Odyssey

by

Fischerspooner

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I loved the first album when it first came out... But then the whole electroclash thing got pretty stale pretty fast. I credit Fischerspooner for being one of the forerunners of the genre, but I was very relieved when I heard this album would be a pretty big departure. I was even happier when I bought the album and listened to it straight through. Though many signature Fischerspooner sounds remain, these guys have definitely moved out of the electroCLASH genre and into the electroPOP arena. Most of the tracks have semi-standard structures and there are guitars aplenty. There are some obvious comparisons to be made here: "Just Let Go" to The Faint, "Never Win" to Pink Floyd, "A Kick In the Teeth" to The Postal Service, "Ritz 107" to AIR, and "All We Are" to Alan Parsons (and is that the bassline of Duran Duran's "Girls On Film" I hear in "We Need a War"?). There are a few tracks that are inferior to the others ("Everything To Gain," "Wednesday," "Ritz 107," and the final track), but overall this is an incredible album. It's tough to pick favorites at this point, but right now "Cloud," "Never Win," "A Kick In the Teeth," "We Need a War," and "Happy" are topping my list. Highly recommended to every fan of electropop and/or The Postal Service.

I have to say, the production and lyrics are much cleaner on this album, which is a big plus, but they really lost some originality in the process. "Cloud", one of the better tracks on here, definitely shows the fingerprints of production assistance from Mirwais, while one of the more mediocre songs ("Ritz 107") sounds like they're channeling Underworld at their worst. The rest of the album presents some really catchy hooks, which is good from the perspective that it will most likely increase their radio- and video-play and get them greater exposure, but the commercialization is kind of a disappointment. The whole thing is much more even than #1, but somehow that makes the highs seem, well, not that high. "Never Win" will (ironically) probably be the big winner here, but it just doesn't provide the amp that "Emerge" did for the first album. Overall, it's very easy to listen to (with notable exceptions "Ritz 101" and "o"), and Lord knows it's more unique than the other dregs out there in the music world, so put this at the top of your "buy" list.