May 1st, 2008 11:23am

Things Are Not All That Out Of Control

Stereolab “Three Women” - Though formal experimentation has been the name of the Stereolab game since day one, much of the band’s work since the death of Mary Hansen has come across as overly sterile and emotionally neutral, even when they were integrating elements of sunshine pop and funky percussion on the Fab Four Suture singles. At some point, Tim Gane and company lost a certain spark of humanity, and even in spite of musical elements that qualified as hooks, the songs were not catchy or pop, but instead icy reiterations of concepts they’d been mining since the late 90s. “Three Women,” from the forthcoming album Chemical Chords, does not break new ground for the groop, but it has a light, unfussy touch and an abundance of emotion that allows its hooks to sink in rather than slip off. In a word, the song sounds inspired, and a result, it’s inspiring. It’s dynamic and groovy and full of lovely melodic bits, and most importantly, it rises up for a gentle, joyous catharsis. In the context of what they’ve been doing for the past several years, the song feels like the first truly happy day after a long stretch of inertia, indecision, and mourning. It’s the moment when the trauma finally seems to be in the past, and you get to feeling like yourself again. (Click here for the Stereolab MySpace page.)

5/1/08 1:20 pm

Bobo says:

Yeah, at first listen I was bummed, because after the dull FFS I was hoping for a bigger formal breakthrough from them. But the song’s definitely a grower in a way none of FFS’s tracks were.

5/1/08 2:16 pm

Matthew Perpetua says:

See, I wouldn’t call it a grower at all. For the first time since maybe “Captain Easychord,” I was sold on the first listen.

5/1/08 3:09 pm

fizz byers says:

i long to play in the milky night, oh stereolab, please go back
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5/1/08 8:59 pm

jim weed says:

i’ve had a different experience w/ stereolab. i’ll take the whole oeuvre to my desert isle. their recent work HAS broken new ground. i don’t think you like that ground and that you want unanticipated iterations of emperor tomato catsup, which is impossible.

better than anything i might say, bracket your phenomenal reality, set it aside, and go back and give “need to be” from margerine eclipse another go–such an exciting, spontaneous, layered, energetic, space-cruise of a song. at the very least you’ll get a taste of my own schizoid preoccupation.

your love/appreciation of stereolab is evident. i like that.

5/1/08 11:57 pm

“Grower” may not have been the right word; it’s not like the track’s charm is inaccessible on first listen. But in my case, I had to overcome my initial disappointment that the song SOUNDS like their Fab Four Suture stuff (although it’s better, for exactly the reasons you describe) before appreciating it.

And Jim Weed’s right: “Need To Be” is an amazing song.

5/3/08 6:50 pm

Andreas says:

New song is a grower, I don’t find it immediate, like Cpt Easychord.

But to say that their work has been sterile and emotionally neutral since Marys death makes me wonder, since in my opinion Margerine Ecclipse must be theri most emotinal record ever, though not depressing. I find the new song “emotionally neutral”, and hope there will be more emotional stuff on their album, because that’s what i find suits ms Sadier.

5/7/08 2:42 am

Ro says:

I just loved it first time around. I’ve loved Stereolab for a while now, but none of their songs have ever made me stop everything I’m doing to dance like a maniac in my room and giggle because I didn’t know it was in me.

5/13/08 4:20 am

Aurelia says:

i really liked the discussion

i think i will try downloading a couple songs off of itunes or something

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