Client
City
(Mute)
The synthesizer, when used effectively, can be a powerful tool in a band. Poorly executed synths, however, can cause more cringe-worthy musical moments than a Starlight Vocal Band reunion. This is the nature of all electronically produced music. Bands like New Order and, to a far lesser extent, say, Fischerspooner walk the line between intrigue and cheesiness by employing fantastic production and liberal use of irony, respectively. Client doesn't just walk across this line; they scream over it at high speeds.
Client seems to be the musical offspring of two attractive and well-dressed, knob-twiddling European women. Their image is calculated and marketable; there is an air of seedy sexuality in all their press photos and liner notes that the kiddies overseas might fall for, but few others will. Russian dance-hall princesses t.A.T.u. already tried this gimmick, though since they were far younger and had that whole precocious, virginal teen-lesbian thing going on, it is unlikely that Client will get by on their image alone. All this leaves is the music, and there isn't much there.
Uninspired synths, gloomy basslines and sparse moderate tempo drum machine beats abound in City, all yearning for a return of the simple electro-pop of yesteryear. Dispassionate, jaded sounding vocals sing lyrics that alternately sound like they came out of a depressed teenaged goth (\I'm so tired of this it brings me down / I'm nothing when you're not around) or a particularly unimaginative phone-sex operator (""I love it in the morning and I love it in the evening / and I love the way you want me to""), often in the same song (in this case, the bluntly named track ""Pornography"").
Almost every song follows the ""Tainted Love"" formula to a T, but none of them have the minimalist precision and the hooks of that song. Only on ""One Day at a Time"" and ""The Chill of October"" does Client move outside of their derivative sound. On ""One Day,"" the girls of Client make use of a simple major-key melody that stands as one of the few hooks that stick on City. ""The Chill of October"" only stands out because of its dramatic use of strings, though their emotional impact is dulled when the bored vocals and pedestrian lyrics get going. ""Theme"", the only full track without vocals, is a mildly pleasant electro-jaunt that makes the listener thirst for more instrumental tracks.
City is a one-dimensional affair that plods along for its 50-minute run time, sounding stale, lazy, and inconsequential for the most part. Pastiche or any sort of imitation is fine, but when it comes to out-dated genres like synth-pop, a dearth of new ideas will bring the imitation into the realm of parody. City helps to kill its genre.
-Adam Dylewski
