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SupersystemAlways Never Again Popfrenzy Records/Reverberation How freakin' good is this? Freakin' freakin' good, that's how. With a pace to match pacemasters The Rapture (actually, keyboardist Pete Cafarella does sessions for them) and catchy bass-and-cow-bell to rival cowbell kings, Hot Hot Heat, Soundsystem have created an eclectic beast of ecstatic beats. To be honest, this CD stayed at the bottom of the pile for a while before I noticed that Soundsystem used to be called El Guapo and suddenly I knew 'Always Never Again' would have a plethora of things to offer. How right I was. Opening track Born Into The World might take a few listens to get used to, but once you're hooked, you're well and truly set for an album that you can't turn your back on. The most striking comparison to be made here is with Architecture In Helsinki. Soundsystem have taken the group vocals and percussive vibe of AIH and scrapped the 'cuteness' for disco drum beats to create much more consistently energetic songs as evidenced by Everybody Sings, Miracle, Tragedy and 1977. The chanting of "Ox rat dragon rabbit rooster tiger and snake" on 1977 could almost be sampled from an AIH song, but the song itself is more akin to Les Savy Fav; a melange that works surprisingly well. In the dance stakes, the tribal drums of Click-Click (remix version) set a trance like tempo and Josh Blair's drumming on Defcon picks up speed like a freight train making for a (ahem) rapturous house track. Six Cities has a surprise Middle Eastern twang as does The Love Story with a late guitar line woven into its overtly synth rock sound. The lyrical style is often repetitive but only to the point of being catchy and any lyrical monotony, upon closer inspection, reveals subtle, clever changes which are, in a sense, very poetic. A great album, but they should have stuck with the infamous El Guapo as a band name.  |
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