What is that causes fun-l0ving musical artists who don’t take themselves seriously, to suddenly go all solemn and release an album that’s a po-faced platitudinous musical fart in the wind? I’m all for bands exploring their sounds, but is it necessary to be belting out a fun lovin’ rock anthem one moment, only to violently snap backwards like a musical bungee cord is yanking you back to performing an earnest rendition of an eastern European national anthem?
This resentment been brought about by the latest FischerSpooner album, Entertainment. Their prior albums were so much fun, really inventive and quirky electronica. They clearly had a sense of humour, too – their music videos were outrageous, and they shamelessly stamped “BEST SONG EVER” in the artwork to their Emerge single.
That’s why the new album is such a letdown. They used to sound like they’d inhaled a metric tonne of amphetamines directly from Kylie Minogue’s snatch then recorded the resulting party explosion. Now they sound like they’re stuck in a K-hole and are convinced the only method of escape is to desperately stab at a Casio keyboard until they’ve deciphered a secret musical code, which opens a portal back to the conscious world. Shame.
Of course, it’s entirely possible to transform from wacky cartoon band to a musical collective that’s so soberly grave, it makes Coldplay look like poster children for extreme sports. The trick is to execute your metamorphosis before anyone really begins paying attention to you. Some of us haven’t forgotten about you cavorting around in primary-coloured t-shirts while singing about zoo animals in the late 90s, Eskimo Joe.
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I could never wear that sweater.
Oh my, Entertainment is fucking horrible isn’t it?
Well, should quantify – it’s “doable” as an album, the same way that – oh I dunno – Gordon Ramsay qualifies as a fully-fledged human. It does the job, but that job is fairly bland.
I think I’m just so disappointed because I was so fucking pumped for the album. Like, I kept checking Wikipedia to remind myself of the date it was coming out. But… blah.
And just what is that “Do you dance in France?” song about anyway.
Even looks good with my new brown slacks!!