Musicians must have nightmares about their sophomore albums. They've come off a successful first album, gone on tour and gotten everyone all revved up. So here we are, a couple of years after Beams, and now we have Apocalypso. I can almost hear the boys from Presets taking in that last big breath as they hold it, waiting for everyone's response.
Most second albums are either crushed under the weight of the first album or radically depart from the first in a way that derails their original audience. But that makes sense, doesn't it? After all, the band has toured, played live and, presumably, made some money. All of those things should change you.
Apocalypso does neither of the aforementioned things. It follows the (just made up) addage of: If you don't like a Presets song, just skip to the next one. They're delightfully schizophrenic. The album opens with a bit of a throw away club track, "Kicking and Screaming" that has the feel of something that is supposed to be remixed. But then it moves on to "My People", a Nitzer Ebb style floor pounder that can work into almost any club scene. They move into Pet Shop Boys territory with with "A New Sky" and then "This Boy's in Love" leaps firmly into Erasure's lap (see previous video post).
I'm not sure 'This boy' is the best track on the album, but it certainly stands out from the rest. It almost feels like something written by another band. It has an epic feel that manages to climb over most of the other tracks with its power. The rest of the album feels like filler compared to it.
The remaining tracks continue down a solid journey, visiting bands like Devo and Information Society along the way, drifting from cheesy analog Chromeo-inspired fun, to bigger soundscape stuff.
Apocalypso escapes the sophomore slump, not by taking things up a notch, but by delivering an album that could have simply been a continuation of their first. Relax guys, you can breath. People are going to like it.
I'd spin "My People" around 1:30 before a Nitzer Ebb track. "This Boy's in Love" would go on around 11:30 right after something by Electronic.
The Presets
Most second albums are either crushed under the weight of the first album or radically depart from the first in a way that derails their original audience. But that makes sense, doesn't it? After all, the band has toured, played live and, presumably, made some money. All of those things should change you.
Apocalypso does neither of the aforementioned things. It follows the (just made up) addage of: If you don't like a Presets song, just skip to the next one. They're delightfully schizophrenic. The album opens with a bit of a throw away club track, "Kicking and Screaming" that has the feel of something that is supposed to be remixed. But then it moves on to "My People", a Nitzer Ebb style floor pounder that can work into almost any club scene. They move into Pet Shop Boys territory with with "A New Sky" and then "This Boy's in Love" leaps firmly into Erasure's lap (see previous video post).
I'm not sure 'This boy' is the best track on the album, but it certainly stands out from the rest. It almost feels like something written by another band. It has an epic feel that manages to climb over most of the other tracks with its power. The rest of the album feels like filler compared to it.
The remaining tracks continue down a solid journey, visiting bands like Devo and Information Society along the way, drifting from cheesy analog Chromeo-inspired fun, to bigger soundscape stuff.
Apocalypso escapes the sophomore slump, not by taking things up a notch, but by delivering an album that could have simply been a continuation of their first. Relax guys, you can breath. People are going to like it.
I'd spin "My People" around 1:30 before a Nitzer Ebb track. "This Boy's in Love" would go on around 11:30 right after something by Electronic.
The Presets
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