REVIEW: Poster Children, DDD (Spin Art) / Salaryman,
_Karoshi (12 Inch/Parasol)
- Chelsea Spear
Listening to the music of Salaryman is not unlike experiencing the industrial world of Fritz Lang's Metropolis first-hand. This Champaign, Illinois foursome makes driving, melodic instrumental pieces that not only portray the feeling work-related miasma, but bring the audience into it through their ingratiating use of repetition, the slow, ascending structure of their songs, and through a deep, full-sounding rhythm.
While many have been quick to label Salaryman's music as techno, there's much more to it than that. The band have a depth of sound and a cinematic approach that many electronica acts lack. The music has a nicely kalidescopic effect, and can be appreciated on many levels -- dance fiends will thoroughly enjoy dancing to the rubbery, inventive rhythm section, while headphone freaks will appreciate the multilayered production and pointed use of samples. Others, like me, who prefer a fusion of techno's greatest sounds with a more melodic, song-based approach, will doubtlessly love the album for supporting its monumental sound with a passel of sly, warped and utterly perfect melodies. Salaryman may have a hand in helping the "post-rock" trend come of age by synthesizing forms and ideas that once seemed disparate, and blending them into something unique and captivating in their own right.
Meanwhile, the latest album by the Poster Children ("Salaryman with guitars" according to their website), DDD, is probably Lola Rennt to Karoshi's Metropolis. While DDD might not change the fibre of pop music, or anything else, it's perfectly charming for what it is. This new album at times recasts the poppy approach the 'Kids favoured on Junior Citizen and RTFM as a direct descendant of the NYC punk scene, circa 1977. A lazy, easy comparison, to be sure, and one that would suggest the reviewer only listened to the loud-fast-and-hard Ramones tribute "Rock 'N' Roll". Some nicely Blondie-like moments float to the surface on the dreamy, twirling "Strange Attractors" and "Daisy Changed" (a reggae rewrite of "Chain Reaction" from their album Daisychain Reaction); the production and melodic force of other tunes, such as the ear-catching opener "This Town Needs a Fire," suggest the plight of young people who want to get out and grab some thrilling life for themselves. Other tracks, like the percussive "The Old School And the New" and "Elf," find the band expanding upon musical ideas from their previous album, New World Record, with a greater sense of optimism in the lyrical department. Will DDD change your life? Nope, but smart people looking for a good time should look no further.
