S/T

They Say...

Review by Jason MacNeil, All Music Guide

Never shy to throw instruments, samples, and various electronic blips and bleeps to see what sticks to the wall, Electric President open with the hushed vocals on the dreamy and heady "Good Morning, Hypocrite," which is a cross of Moby and Primitive Radio Gods. The duo obviously isn't afraid of using its pop harmonies during the chorus with fabulous results that have you singing along with a childlike innocent. This continues with the precious "Insomnia," which contains a more pronounced roots flavor with a hint of a lush orchestrated arrangement in the background. The group rarely rests on its laurels, with a distant electric guitar marking the opening of the heavier but groove-riddled "Ten Thousand Lives," which has a few shifts musically, soaring before resorting to more "bah dum bah" harmonies. "Grand Machine No. 12," however, is a rather mediocre song that never truly finds its way, just ambling along with the harmonies recalling the lead singer from Wheatus. "Hum" is more direct yet just comes a tad over two minutes with some backward loops in the intro. As the album goes on, this vocal style can be sometimes trying and tedious. The first real head-scratching track has to be "Snow on Dead Neighborhoods," which has a great intro but then resorts to a safer, whispered pop style à la Billy Corgan circa "Disarmed" or the Grapes of Wrath. Then it resurrects itself with a solid hook in the chorus and the high-hat-driven backbeat. The nadir of the record is "Metal Fingers," which starts off like a song by the Cure circa Bloodflowers before some bizarre and asinine rap basically sinks the song. Nonetheless, Electric President mix electric guitar with an occasional thicker wall of sound during "We Were Never Build to Last," which veers from soft to loud and back. A tender, Neil Young-ish lullaby ballad entitled "Farewell" closes this generally good but occasionally uneven album.