Sneaker Pimps' debut album Becoming X is an inventive blend of triphop and indie guitar, with the occasional gothic flourish. More pop than Portishead, singer Kelli Dayton sings with a distinctive vocal that has a tendency to sound rather squeaky and twee in places when you first put the disc in the player, but sounds fine after about five or ten minutes.
The band is currently garnering airplay and attention for the single "6 Underground", played on MTV and included on the soundtrack to The Saint . A triphop beat backing Dayton's ice cool vocals, the song is included here twice: the original mix, and a Nelli Hooper remix that dirties up the beats, bangs up the backing vocals and adds a little texture to the track.
The title track lays a whispered vocal and occasional piano over an ominous keyboard line and trippy drum loop. "Spin Spin Sugar" has a touch of the Garbage about the vocal, while "Post-Modern Sleaze" finds a lazy acoustic guitar playing over the beats.
The variety continues throughout the album. The trip-hop beats are pretty consistent, but the guitar emphasis on several tracks and a stronger lyrical sensibility than most of the beat-heavy acts around at the moment make Becoming X one to pick up. "Just your average smoking beats/punk/torch/drum n' bass/folk/rock n' roll band", says the publicity blurb, and that's really not a bad description at all.
