There Is A Brain Inside My Head

Chicks On Speed w/ The No Heads “The Household Song” – If you read the press release accompanying the new Chicks On Speed record, it seems that the band is somehow quite embarassed by the pop records that they have recorded in the past few years, and are now going out of their way to distance themselves from the “synthetic electroclash approach,” eager to prove themselves as “experimental” artistes. This is very disappointing. Last winter’s 99 Cents remains one of my favorite albums from the past year. On that record CoS were a revelation, playing full-on modern pop arrangements in the style of producers like Richard X and Timbaland, but spiked with political commentary which was alternately strident and sardonic. Though I understand their desire to try new things and work with new collaborators, Press The Spacebar seems more like a retreat than an experiment. Most of the album feels rote and joyless, and very few of the songs seem like complete compositions. “The Household Song” is the only track on the record which plays to the band’s pop strengths, even if the lyrics err on the side of smugness and condescension. (Click here to buy it from Chicks On Speed Records.)

Christian Harder “Grady” – I wouldn’t normally expect a lyric like “welcome to my nightmare palace” to be a big singalong hook in anything other than an industrial goth song, but I suppose that German electronic pop is close enough in spirit. Strangely, this sounds more like a cross between Depeche Mode and Marilyn Manson than Manson’s recent cover of “Personal Jesus.” (Well, it is if you pretend that Marilyn Manson only ever did stomping glam tunes like “The Dope Show.”) (Click here to buy it from Amazon Germany.)