After a few EPs that sounded like bizarre Microphones rejects mixed with naïf Lil Jon knock-offs, Melissa Lauvinais and Busy Gangnes of Telepathe come out swinging with their debut full-length, Dance Mother. Abandoning their previous method of assembling beats and sounds with a childlike ignorance of sequence and layer, Telepathe are on full display here, waltzing between full-out sonic experimentation and confident drum machine-based four-on-the-floor.
For a poppy dance album, the record's content is fairly dark, with its array of “My greatest joy would be to destroy you” lyrics and songs about Jesus being a “second-rate son.” However, the record’s darkness is allayed by the reed-thin vocals, multi-tracked to no end, along with the glitter and crash of sleigh bells and shiny synths. Previously released tracks “Chrome’s On It” and “Can’t Stand It” are here spruced up with producer Dave Sitek’s Midas touch and made glimmering and more visceral. “Can’t Stand It,” in particular, has changed from a steady, winding drone into a tightly sequenced variation of swirling sample crescendos and quieter, bell-driven breakdowns, as Lauvinais and Gangnes bemoan “Oh, you know it could be so much better.”
“Devil’s Trident” is another standout, a spoken word Confiteor rife with religious symbolism, in which the girls beg an unseen deity to “Provoke a frenzy in me.” The most ambitious moment comes in “Trilogy,” which is simply three drum loops crammed into one song, with their vocals loping from a lackadaisical sing-song to a triumphant chant to a fawning whisper.
Sitek deftly layers everything a thousand times over to create a wonderful mesh of harmonized multitracked vox, thudding synthesized bass drum, and ambient wash. Having produced the likes of Scarlett Johansson, worked with David Bowie, and quietly piloted his own band TV on the Radio to indie superstardom, Dave Sitek seems poised to knob-twiddle his way into the higher echelons of star producers. Telepathe may not be superstars yet, but with Dance Mother -- an album short in length but simmering over with ambition -- they are certainly on the right track.
1. So Fine
2. Chrome’s On It
3. Devil’s Trident
4. In Your Line
5. Lights Go Down
6. Can’t Stand It
7. Michael
8. Trilogy
9. Drugged
More about: Telepathe
