Pulling all the geeky strings without apology
The PR guys behind this would most probably say that the sounds of a playful summer are back once again, with this quirky little lot leading the way, wrapping their chubby little hands round the leader flag and running with it gleefully. In a way this would be true, as they are ever so slightly happy, jolly, bright and airy. But they are also, in a way, beyond a joke... Encyclopedia are absurd and should not be allowed, although that little part inside of you that is still the child and enjoys the delights of a colourful jumper will run around like a mad fool to the mooosic.
With the sarcastic teenage lyrics in 'Emily' that comment on the blossoming relationship conceived in person and on the internet (aww, a modern love story involving a mouse and a chatroom!), everything is deliberately covered in icing. The sounds are the key, here. The drumming is programmed and simplistically keeping check, with tinny hollow bodies thumping around – the sort that you would find on an eighties keyboard. The guitar, however, is beef, with crispy distortion and an in-yer-face kind of cock rock sound that pumps out the jams until you're swimming in them. But what is the real, main sound of Encyclopedia is the ludicrous Moog keys that blip around the song so unapologetically that will make the 'geekiest' of acts blush.
Fitting really, that, like the books after which they are named, they will possibly crop up in and around your daily life with the hope of being sold and taken home, but you'll more than likely dismiss them with apologies and wait for a later, more comprehensive edition.