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Avg: 4.0 (112 ratings)
- Date Released: June 24, 2008
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Label: 4AD
Purposefully short, dense and fast: Sterolab, streamlined.
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We Say...
Now eleven albums old, the musically omnivorous sextet Stereolab has long been synonymous with sophistication. That their singer, Laetitia Sadler, is an elegant Frenchwoman big on Situationist philosophy helps, but guitarist Tim Gane's skill at parsing and re-imagining the best of French pop, Brazilica and Krautrock has been crucial too.
The 14 songs on Chemical Chords — described by the band as "purposefully short, dense and fast" — were reportedly selected from a pool of 32 compositions that the Franglais outfit recorded at their studio in Bordeaux, France. Featuring studied-but-deft string and brass arrangements by long-term aide and sometime-
Inviting (but, by Gane's admission, meaningless) song titles such as "Cellulose Sunshine" and "Self Portrait With Electric Brain" speak volumes about Stereolab's modus operandi. Linguistic juxtapositions clearly fire textures and moods in their music, hence "Neon Beanbag" transpires as a breezy, pristine thing with an irresistible bounce, while "Daisy Click Clack" — partly inspired by UK-based '70s two-hit-wonders Lieutenant Pigeon — is as playful, poppy and immediate as its name suggests.
Stereolab's last full album, 2004's Margerine Eclipse (2006's Fab Four Suture was a collection of EPs), was clouded in part by the untimely death of their guitarist and co-singer Mary Hansen, so it's good to hear the group in a more frivolous mood here (Sadler's dark, typically stark lyrics on the layered, complex "Fractal Dream of a Thing" notwithstanding). That the group makes perfect pop under near-laboratory conditions is right there in its moniker; Chemical Chords shakes the test tube to fine effect. -
They Say...
At times, Stereolab's music seems so unchanging that it feels more like it was generated by a laser-guided, lounge pop-meets-Krautrock machine than an actual "groop," but the small tweaks they make to their master plan on each album end up making a big impact. On Chemical Chords, Stereolab's 4AD debut, they take a much more pop-focused approach than their immediately previous work -- which is saying something, since neither Fab Four Suture nor Margerine Eclipse were among their more experimental moments in the first place. Actually, the shortness and directness of these songs could be seen as a bigger experiment for the band than their frequent lockgrooves and hypnotic passages; with those trimmed, Chemical Chords presents a version of Stereolab's sound that is just as vivid as their earlier output, but fizzing with immediacy and urgency. "Neon Beanbag" jumps in hooks first, opening the album with a surprisingly swift rhythm and Laetitia Sadier's more familiar, bopping backing vocals. "One Finger Symphony"'s animated brass, guitars, and percussion suggest gears rotating and levers lifting and falling in playful but somewhat sinister fashion; "Daisy Click Clack" swishes in on brisk drums and a quaint melody that could be borrowed from a piano rag. Despite its name, Chemical Chords actually features some of Stereolab's most organic-sounding music in some time, downplaying their arsenal of analog synths in favor of live instrumentation -- the burbling synths on "Self Portrait with Electric Brain" support the song's snazzy brass and strings rather than dominating them. Likewise, Stereolab's version of "going pop" means looking beyond what "pop" means in the moment. A strong '60s feel permeates much of the album, but the way the band reconfigures these sounds prevents it from sounding archaic. "Three Women"'s rock-solid bass and tambourine shout out to Motown's heyday, but its buzzing organs and bongos feel like they were channeled from a long-lost exotic novelty album. "Cellulose Sunshine"'s gorgeous lysergic chamber pop could be a throwback, if it weren't so modishly sleek, and "Pop Molecule"'s massive synths and big, backward drums offer a futuristic take on acid rock. The band also revisits its own pop heyday on "Valley Hi!" and "Nous Vous Demandons Pardons," boasting the clever counterpoint and fuzzy Moogs of the Mars Audiac Quintet era. Chemical Chords manages to be even more concisely charming than that album, sacrificing little of Stereolab's distinctive sound for its immediacy.
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| 01. |  |
Neon Beanbag |
3:51 |
|
| 02. | |
Three Women |
3:47 |
|
| 03. | |
One Finger Symphony |
2:07 |
|
| 04. | |
Chemical Chords |
5:14 |
|
| 05. | |
The Ecstatic Static |
4:45 |
|
| 06. | |
Valley Hi! |
2:16 |
|
| 07. | |
Silver Sands |
3:09 |
|
| 08. | |
Pop Molecule [Molecular Pop 1] |
2:17 |
|
| 09. | |
Self Portrait With “Electric Brain" |
3:18 |
|
| 10. | |
Nous Vous Demandons Pardon |
4:53 |
|
| 11. | |
Cellulose Sunshine |
2:38 |
|
| 12. | |
Fractal Dream Of A Thing |
3:39 |
|
| 13. | |
Daisy Click Clack |
3:30 |
|
| 14. | |
Vortical Phonothèque |
3:08 |
|
14 Total Tracks, 48:32 Total Length
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Credits
- Tim Gane - Bass // Tim Gane - Guitar // Tim Gane - Drums // Sally Herbert - Strings // Sean O'Hagan - String Arrangements // Sean O'Hagan - Brass Arrangement // Andy Ramsay - Drums // Andy Ramsay - Drum Machine // Andy Ramsay - Electronics // Laetitia Sadier - Vocals // Marcus Holdaway - Strings // Joe Watson - Drums // Joe Watson - Keyboards // Joe Watson - Engineer // Joe Watson - Vibraphone // Joe Watson - Mixing // Joe Watson - Electronics // Simon Johns - Bass // Brian G. Wright - Strings // Dave Liddell - Brass // Laura Melhuish - Strings // Steve Hamilton - Brass // Joe Walters - French Horn
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