I enjoy electronic music. Heck, one of my favorite concerts from last year was seeing Autechre play
in a completely darkened Terminal West. I say this because My Gold Mask are a three-piece electro
dance pop band from Chicago. I enjoy this type of dance pop okay, and find that Anxious
Utopia is a fine example of the genre.
The music here is bright and shimmering, with a hint of the industrial noise (now twice removed)
that The Faint and Ladytron used. So, this is clattering, thundering drum machines and shiny keyboards
and sunny vocals. Greta Rochelle is the singer here, and she has a strong voice.
The two tracks that really stand out to me on this release are Insomnia and Cautionary
Lives.
Insomnia should be a pop hit. Is it? Is there still a radio station in Atlanta that plays the
popular stuff of the day? Well, this has an insanely catchy beat built out of scattered percussion that
reverbs with a really huge sound. It just drives forward, head bopping, toe tapping, just moving forward.
Cautionary Lives is a little slower than Insomnia. That is, the pace goes down from
"zumba on 4 shots of espresso" to "running to catch a train" kind of exhilarating hurry. It bops along
with their most Ladytronish beats, and Rochelle sings some of her prettiest vocals on the record.
In time, the unrelenting fast beat and high-pitched vocals get to be a bit much. But this music has a
lot of energy and enthusiasm and is pretty catchy, and after all isn't that what you want in electro dance
pop? |
