Wish I could give these guys two thumbs up - but unfortunately for their producers, I can barely manage a reluctant nod.
Attempting an assorted mix of the soulful and strobe, there’s more machine to this sound than music. This, their first album after “Sunmachine”, features some blazin’ tracks - “Don’t You Cry”, “Say What’s On Your Mind”, and a remake of the old Cranberries’ hit “Dream To Me”. And that’s just the riper fraction.
A uniform pulse beats relentlessly through each song, and while some numbers display a distinct pattern of intergalactic wheezes and hollow echoes, they’re still part of the music-making machine. For instance, “Deja-vu” sounds ridiculous enough to make you want to forget the term altogether.
The lyrics are tepid half the time, and plain don’t make sense the other half (although I have a hunch these guys are hoping to get some important messages across in their preachy “it’s Never Too Late” and “Eastern Promise”)
While some of these numbers may hit it big at the local club, only a couple of extra scratches by a really-motivated DJ can take them there.
This article was first published on 21 Sep 2001.