Let's get a few obvious remarks about Out Hud and their music out of the way: Yes, they are from New York, and yes they share some members with the bands !!! and LCD Soundsystem. They also make post-punk-influenced dance music.
Fans and critics tend to focus solely on these observations in evaluating Out Hud, which cast themselves into a sea of hot yet mediocre retro bands that share only superficial qualities. Sure, they sound like they are from the '80s, but they have enough skill and talent to stand out in this crowded genre.
Their debut, S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D., was a hard-hitting instrumental album that floated in and out of tight grooves at will, creating a sound that was both spacey and cohesive.
Their follow-up, Let Us Never Speak of It Again, steers away from the violent jammy guitars in favor of a softer, more computerized sound. The first half of the album features the vocals of cellist Molly Schnick and drummer Phyllis Forbes, which the band decides to match with more approachable song structures.
The leadoff track, \It's For You,"" features familiar dance hall tricks, like a booming house beat, squealing guitar effects and an extra percussion push of a tambourine, to create a more intelligent version of an Ace of Base single. Other up-tempo tracks like ""One Life to Leave"" create a tenser mood by shifting keyboard textures as the vocals become more frantic. The song section of the album flows nicely until it collides with the instrumental tracks.
Out Hud may feel uneasy about leaving their old sound behind, so they try reinterpreting it to fit into the context of their cleaner new album. This may sound possible, but the new instrumentals lack the punch of their previous albums and singles. The absences of vocals frees up Out Hud's talents to explore long dance anthems comparable to post-rock compositions.
Unfortunately, by the time the album reaches its 11 minute centerpiece, ""Dear Mr. Bush, There Are Over 100 words for Shit and Only 1 for Music,"" many of swooshes and synth lines have been exhausted and the disco beats don't have the same urgency. The song does not conjure up the same force and vitality of Out Hud's earlier epic, ""The L Train Is A Swell Train,"" and could use a good edit job, but the excellent pop songs compensate for the relatively inferior instrumental tracks and lift the album to an overall solid effort.
Let Us Never Speak of It Again establishes Out Hud as a bona fide dance outfit that sounds confident enough in meshing its own musical history with disco music's history.
