Band: Simian Mobile Disco
Album title: Attack Decay Sustain Release
Release Date: September 18
Rating: ****/*****
Back in the early 2000s, James Ford and Jas Shaw were leading double lives. During the day, the two formed half of British electro-clash quartet Simian. The band had fans, a record deal with Virgin Records, and was touring internationally. But at night, Ford and Shaw would steal off to DJ nightclubs under the name Simian Mobile Disco (sometimes even running from a Simian concert to a dance club on the same night). They’d caught the electronic bug, and it wouldn’t go away.
Then, in 2003, after some contract disputes with Virgin, Simian dissolved in the middle of a U.S. tour. But before Simian cut ties with the label, Virgin had held a fan remix contest for the Simian song “Never Be Alone.” A then unknown French DJ duo named Justice remixed the song, which became an international dance club sensation (there are websites debating whether or not the remix, called “We Are Your Friends (Never Be Alone)”, is the greatest song of all time). Somehow, Justice didn’t win the Virgin contest, but the track’s popularity helped convince Ford and Shaw to start making electronic music full time.
Let’s get one thing straight: there are two kinds of electronic music. The first one gently pulses in your ears when you enter those hip boutiques that sell $200 jeans. Simian Mobile Disco won’t help to sell any designer clothing. James Ford and Jas Shaw make electronic music, but they don’t show up at the club to sip neon martinis. They come to tear the walls down.
Simian Mobile Disco makes the second kind of electronic music, the kind that makes purists cringe and stick fingers in their ears while the kids throw up their hands and scream.
The premise is simple, dance music with hooks. It’s not a new idea. But on SMD’s first album, Attack Decay Sustain Release, the British duo execute the combination in a miraculously clean way. Far from the residual punk wails of The Rapture and avoiding the tongue-in-cheek retro of fellow DJ duos like Daft Punk and Justice, SMD make dance songs to rock out. Seamlessly combining big beats and clever lyrics, slick production and heart pumping choruses, SMD’s genius is the kind you don’t even notice because you’re dancing too hard.
But SMD’s accessibility is no accident. Ford and Shaw took the dance tracks that have been making them big on the club scene and collapsed them into the 3 minute pop forms they learned from their rock days.
And maybe the best part about SMD is that they’ve managed to make a cohesive dance record. This isn’t just a collection of singles, it’s a dance party ready to happen. Everything is here. You want clicks and squeaks to shake to? Check out “Sleep Deprivation.” You want shout-’em-out-loud choruses? Put on “Hotdog” (“Put them all together and what do you get? HOTDOG!”). You want ethereal mood music? Put on something else. No need to fumble around making iTunes playlists with clever titles. Just call your friends, tap the keg, and pop in Attack.
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