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Accession have been promoting this album as an 'elektro punk' release (& Faderhead himself certainly looks the part) but the music here is far more accessable than such a label might suggest. It's quite varied, too, veering between the resonant EBM of "O/H Scavenger", the harder, industrial-tinged duo of "Naughty H", which has an unexpectedly melancholic chorus & the closing "Burning/Dancing", which boasts some excellent sequencing, right on through to an almost synthpop/electroclash-like style that, in the case of "The Beat Has Started" can get pretty minimalistic at times. What accompaniment there is (mainly on the choruses) show an expert at work, starting with the opening "The Protagonist" where the solid rhythms (which is a constant facet of this album's sound) add a more characteristic touch while "Vanish" & "Hey Girl" should both enjoy a high level of popularity, the former for its easily accessable style, the latter for it's all-out infectious chorus that boasts a high singalongability factor, helped by Faderhead's very cool vocals which are definately a cut above many electro artists. The importance of this should not be underestimated, especially for the additional emotive element it provides to the engagingly downbeat "The Lines" which can seem like a bit of a plodder initially but it's worth sticking with while "Mattaku" features the additional talents of one Myoonji Sadamune (who also wrote it). The vocal snippets are a dead ringer for Jabba The Hutt (is it a sample?) while the musical elements take on a greater clarity effective as this slow & grinding industrial piece progresses & are all the more effective for it. That this isn't a predictable album is a definate plus point for me as it still maintains a very cohesive feel throughout, along with several highlight tracks which, all things considered, is more than enough to give "FH1" a definate thumbs up. |
