[rating=3.00]
One of the most satisfying bits of eating pizza is when you devour the splendid amounts of cheese dripping out from the crust. Eventually though, you feel just a little weird in the stomach, unsure of whether all that cheese was a good idea or not. Sound Kapital, Handsome Furs’ latest, leaves a similar aftertaste of uncertainty. There’s a definite ‘Britney meets a bunch of scruffy punks in a German electronic rave one evening’ vibe on the album, as bouncy drum grooves and cheap and synthetic synth lines reminiscent of the rotten 80’s struggle for dominance over heavily distorted and textured, sometimes-poignant sound-scapes constantly.
On “What About Us”, the two contrasting forces interject constantly as the vocalist croons about broken hearts with a distinct indie sensibility that serves only to magnify the horrid background synths, before the song transports the listener quite suddenly into a vaguely-profound space. “Serve the People,” by far the most accessible and singable song on the album, is where Handsome Furs manage to nail the dirty pop vibe just right, as the power of the song itself takes precedence over the experiments, with sing-along melodies and a grinding rhythm lending a deep sense of accomplishment and victory to the song. The spirit of rebellion normally associated with indie comes blaring out with a vengeance, even as the synths continue to add a sense of divergence to the music. The guitars rarely (if ever) come to the forefront, but on “Cheap Music”, they do appear, and with a muddy yet floating sense of purpose. There’s a definite validation here as the punk-laced distortion riffs carry the music towards the highpoints of the energetic indie spirit of the 90s.
One of the most striking aspects of Sound Kapital is the sense of harmony from track one till the concluding notes on the last song, “No Feelings”. The husband-wife duo comprising Handsome Furs have managed to cultivate an exclusive sound for themselves, and instead of going haywire, they have stuck to it with a mature songwriting craft, experimenting with textures and noise fittingly. While the sound itself may be a hit-or-miss, depending on taste, it remains admirable that Sound Kapital has that inimitably honest quality throughout its duration; the quality of conviction. It’s obvious that the band genuinely believes in this music, which makes it worthy of a few honest listens, and just the right amount of respect, even if the music doesn’t always quite strike the right notes. Just through this one album, you can sense that the band is concerned purely with the art of writing music, instead of taking themselves too seriously or falling for all the surrounding frills. The cheese may make stomachs churn, but that never stopped anyone from eating pizza again.
