How does one try to explain a sound that is equal parts biting self-examination and sugary pop, but laced with arena-ready rock? Rock candy? Saccharine singer-songwriter? Sweet Depression? It's hard to pick just one but, on The Army You Got, AfterpartY already has the cross nailed; throughout the album, a series of danceable beats, rock guitars and krautrock synths undulate wildly beneath the soul-searching and self-deprecating sentiments supplied by singer Kristina B. And, amazingly, it nothing collapses under its own weight.
Depending on how much plastic and novelty you like in your rock or how much real-time you like in your dance/electronica, it goes without saying that The Army You Got will either be the best thing you've ever heard or the most tediously mawkish slab of tripe in all creation – but there is no halfway point; it's impossible to “sort of” like it or “sort of” hate it, you do one or the other passionately.
Part of the reason for that polarized response is due to the fact that there is no moment during The Army You Got's run-time when listeners are able to settle into the record; with all of the different sounds involved (rock, kraut-rock, Top 40 Dance and so on) rammed together in one big mishmash, listeners are left with no idea what to do first; should they get down, throw their hands up in the air, start a pit or just stand and watch in awe? While all of these sounds that the band chooses to intermingle are diametrically opposed, somehow they fit together here, which leaves audiences stymied. Songs like “Love Lasts Six Minutes,” Automatic” and “Strength In Magazines” all best exemplify AfterpartY's wild and almost haphazard assemblage of sounds but, in each of those cases (and more) nothing is really all that hard to listen to; after the initial shock of so many sounds happening at once subsides, listeners will actually find themselves getting into the idea – even if they're still not exactly sure how to physically react to it.
So, what does this mix mean for the future of AfterpartY? Good question. Because there is such a tremendous amount of novelty to The Army You Got, the album is only likely to hold up in the short term and the band will eventually have to choose a side (rock, electronic or Top 40) if they really want to sustain a listener base. There is no clear sign to say which way the band might fall present on this album (as mixed as it is, the band is equally adept at each angle of their sound), so that decision will be the greatest attractor to future releases for listeners; everyone will want to see how the story ends.
Artist:
www.afterpartyband.com/
www.myspace.com/afterpartyretro
Album:
The Army You Got is out now through Sound Of Pop Records. Pre-order it here on Amazon or Canadian orders should be directed to Amazon.ca .
