Needs a Killing Touch
This, believe it or not, is Robots in Disguises' testimonial year. After three albums, "Happiness v Sadness" marks the fourth full-length effort from the British and German duo, with ten years removed from their debut. This album has been funded by the innovative Pledge Music crowdsourcing scheme, which means that enough people have backed them to make this record, as well as clearing their karma a little– a percentage of pledges went to the Alzheimers' Society.
So, with promises of voicemails and acoustic gigs for those willing to spend a little more, how does the record itself stack up?
It's a frantic LP, with no gear changes or significant directional changes. Most tracks are punched forward with either electronics or guitars and almost playground chants. Evident on the anti-journalists rant 'Lies' and the opener 'Chains' (which does have a bit of a Howard Moonish quality about it, harking back to their cameos on the Mighty Boosh), the chanting rather than singing approach works for a while before it grates a bit.
There aren't really many comparatives you can hold Robots in Disguise up to. The closest I could come up with was Japanese electro-pop, which is a useless one really. Dee and Sue are poster girls for indie cool and there's no room for vulnerability on what is quite a dirty album (the good kind). There is evidence of clever production, with little electronic clicks in the background and although they haven't bothered with any singing lessons, the pledged money has clearly gone to getting the best producer they could afford.
The standout track is 'Let's Get Friendly', a post-op Hot Chip style sleaze anthem that had stuck in my head for a while. It's quite a laid back song, not losing the urgency that is the theme of the LP, but it would be nice to see them approach this pace again, forgetting the in your face stuff and instead, creating the musical equivalent of a burlesque indie disco.
The Pledge Music thing interests me, allowing bands of a certain stature to get people to pay for their past performance in the hope of securing more output. It's a great idea but this reactive way of sourcing costs for an album means that every track has to be brilliant, otherwise the buyers' remorse might kick in. There aren't enough standouts on 'Happiness...' and if the question is "would I buy this album?" then maybe, I'd buy a couple of tracks but if it was "would I invest in its' production?" I can't say I would (I didn't). It's a bit repetitive and although there are bright spots, it's lacking a killing touch. For hardcore fans only.