Coming into their full-length debut with a full head of steam—thanks in part to a series of infectious singles—British four-piece Late of the Pier crash the party, ready to unleash their unflinching electronic sound upon the masses.
Most of the album consists of bizarre sounds that the band craft into transcendent, dance-inducing music with their delicate, indie-electronic hands. Held together by Samuel Eastgate’s snarky, delightfully limey vocals, Fantasy Black Channel hardly misses a beat throughout its 12 songs. The album is damn-near-perfect indie-electronic bliss, suffering only a few hiccups with some slower, bloated songs. The initial, throbbing drumbeats of “Bathroom Gurgle”—the band’s closing opus—are irresistibly cocky, full of the bravado a band usually find in their later albums.
At its best, Fantasy Black Channel is a menacing aural journey, complete with manipulative drumbeats and spacey, futuristic synths. It leaves listeners both exhausted and enthralled. In the song “Heartbeat,” Eastgate croons, “Pineapple pieces in brine/Fucking around with your mind,” revealing the album’s true meaning. Pineapple in brine would, indeed, fuck with my mind—right after Fantasy Black Channel completely blows it.
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Seth 04/20/2009 12:24:23 PM
It seems these guys have come out of nowhere considering I've had trouble finding some informative reading material about the group. Their website isn’t that great. I did, however, see Erol Alkan produced the album, supposedly a notable DJ out of London. I suppose that has to be some kind of representation for promise. Exploring other reviews, I've seen many comparisons to Gary Numan and Frank Zappa, but I can neither agree nor disagree since I've never listened to either of those two much. Fantasy Black Channel is very quirky, poppy, electronic, and full of synth. Simply put, it's party music. Immediately there are similarities to Franz Ferdinand and The Killers, two groups who've successfully hit the pop scene. I'm not sure Late of the Pier will reach that status, though. There seems to be too many "been done before" aspects. Ever since Death From Above 1979 disbanded, I've been searching high and low for a band able enough to replicate You're A Woman, I'm A Machine. No, Late of the Pier can't do that, but a few of their songs are fairly akin - "Space & The Woods" and "Focker." The beats and guitar (or bass, whatever it is) are awesome. Going back to the producer, Erol Alkan, it may be worth knowing in the past he remixed music from both Death From Above 1979 and Franz Ferdinand. It's just an interesting tidbit. Also, at times I think of David Bowie and subsequently Flight of the Conchords mocking him. Fantasy Black Channel isn't that bad despite all the rehashing, even if the flow of the album is all over the place. Amidst the rocking and dancing there's stuff that could be music in an NES game ("Random Firl," have a listen and tell me otherwise). All things considered, this debut is decent.