| Almost.
Expanding on a failed experiment, “Do’s and Don’ts” from Boom Bip’s 2005 LP Blue Eyes in the Red Room, Bryan Hollon and Gruff Rhys, lead man of Super Furry Animals, team up for what amounts to a time-specific soundtrack to the life of John DeLorean. No to low expectations will reward the listener greatly. This is the album of the year. Almost.
To the uninitiated and/or ill-informed, it would be extremely difficult to date this album within the 21st century. Without hesitation, one would naturally and conservatively go with two decades ago. This speaks to the near flawless execution and chemistry by these men. When tackling a distinctive era of music, as 80’s pop epitomized, the ingredients have to be added so precisely as to not come off as mocking or paying homage to the sound.
Boom Bip unabashedly brings the best of the decade’s excess to the forefront and does so in such a manner that has you literally nodding along while tapping the beat on the steering wheel as opposed to grinning and cringing in the embarrassment you felt last time Corey Hart serenaded you about when he liked to wear his sunglasses and the hot chica at the stoplight caught you doing the duet.
Rhys almost frighteningly brings the songs to life with his airy approach to the subject matter. He lets loose over each and every verse a convincing yet wonderfully exaggerated wail that abandons his work with SFA just enough to pull in some of the best 80's one-hit-wonder front men.
With all that said, nine of the tracks reach the level of brilliance in accomplishing their intent while one provides a brief synthy intro to the album. One-fourth of Stainless Steel, however, summons the old adage, “One of these things is not like the other”.
Littered into the magic are three hip-hop tracks loosely adhering to the theme. In one, “Luxury Pool”, Delorean is referred to as a “hustla” and in another, “Trick for Treat”, he had “bitches”. Whilst those may be true, there is no place on this album for hip-hop. The modern street slang and delivery completely distract from a perfectly executed 80’s synth-pop album. It is grating how horribly out-of-place these tracks are.
With Stainless Style, Boom Bip and Gruff Rhys have done DeLorean right and brought us an 80’s classic back from the future (ok, I had to get one of those in). In that respect, chalk this up as something extremely special and appreciate what it is. It has it all.
Almost. Reviewed
by: G
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