We can thank the hipster influence for the overwhelming number of bands/artists that are taking the Thompson Twins, Soft Cell, and Adam Ant music formula—strange appearance, heavy synth programming, quirky vocals—and reanimating it with the help of massive music festivals and advertising. The unfortunate part, like any music movement, is that only a fraction of the bands included in the movement are worth their salt. AWOLNATION is one of those acts.
The band’s lively installment for the current deluge of rehashed new wave, Megalithic Symphony, bounces
around your ears like a child with ADHD hopped up on too much sugar. What separates AWOLNATION from their irony-laden peers is the embracing of different sonic atmospheres for different settings. Megalithic Symphony swings from sorority sing along sessions (“Jump on My Shoulders,” “Wake Up”); hipster binge-drinking, freak-out sessions (“Soul Wars,” “Burn it Down”); and pseudo-dubstep, downtown club scenes (“People,” “Sail”).
I’m not quite sold on this current trend in music as it seems too easy for “artists” to jump on to (thanks ProTools, Macbooks et al) but if cats like Aaron Bruno can at least have some brilliant vocal moments in
between the blips and bloops in their compositions, there is a tiny glimmer of hope. Just don’t get sponsored by American Apparel or Tom’s shoes and we should be fine.
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