Lali Puna - Scary World Theory
(Morr)
Pop music is not supposed to sound like this. Vocalist and keyboardist Valerie Trebeljahr, backed by two parts of The Tied and Tickled Trio, merges contemporary German electronica textures with the cool, laid back, droning pop of early Stereolab to create pop music that is sophisticated, smart, and open-armed. Making the band's second album, Scary World Theory, their "political" album, Trebeljahr does not treat politics like Stereolab does, the Manifesto in hand, but rather like a bohemian friend sharing her personal self-help program.
In "Lowdown," Trebeljahr extends her arms in front of a disco beat, singing to the listener in a coy, quiet voice "we know your ways, your sorrows." She whispers that we should have known better, but offers to take us in anyway as an organ-sounding bridge offers a calming, soothing drone. Pop queen Madonna often gets credit for reinventing herself as the electronica Mother Earth on her Ray of Light album, but her songs were still all about how great her life is. Trebeljahr opens her heart, even if it exposes her flaws (as in "Come On Home," where she sings of how distant her family seems), in order to help lead the listener to a freer, richer life.
These politics are not really any sort of -ism but rather simple advice to the listener not to accept complacency. "Middle Curse," building an odd, multi-layered texture out of skipping vinyl, live drums, and a drum machine, is where Trebeljahr is her most blunt. She says, matter-of-factly, "Quit your job... Don't work for people you can't trust." The "Middle Curse" is, of course, toiling away as part of the bourgeois, being another drone in the Metropolis. And that's a bad thing. The next song, "Bi-Pet," gets to the reasons why, trivializing any supposed joys gotten from such a life, saying "all the things we do are pin-up sweet," i.e., fake pleasures. The music here is pillow soft: the drum machines create aquatic sounds that hover above the dueling beds of keyboards, one buzzing soft tones and the other creating a simple music box melody.
These pop songs are not really remarkable for their melodies or any sort of pop innovation--they are at heart simple pop songs--but rather for the execution of the songs. This is a band that is so sure of themselves that they don't try to overstep their bounds and ruin the hook by trying to be too creative; instead layers of textures and interesting tones are added to the songs to make them sonically appealing, let the simple hooks ease into the ear drums instead of pierce right through. On the instrumental segments of the album, like "50 Face Of" and the outro of "Middle Curse," the band allows themselves to let loose musically, showing they could keep up with any other German electronic rock band if they wanted to. "50 Faces Of" is a pulsing groove with tribal drums and a dirty bass sound that breaks into a cavernous sound in the middle, with the drums echoing against the walls and the keyboards hoo-ing like birds.
Lali Puna is more of a pop band than Stereolab. As such, the band doesn't hit the listener on the head with how smart they are. Instead, the band gives you an interesting sound that is still highly inviting. Yet, they also don't at all become saccharine like Takako Minekawa or Buffalo Daughter sometimes can. Lali Puna strikes a near perfect balance in their electronic pop, letting you settle into the music, get wrapped up in the textures, and then gradually let those simple little keyboard hooks dig in.
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