First up on this race to the finish, we have Cherub. The Nashville Scene described their sound as "club-spawn, skull-shaking low end with a wall of guitars and talkbox pyrotechnics." The Bonnaroo app includes in their bio that this is a "sexy, avant-garde, electro-pop duo that is the dance love child of 80's funk and pop-music from the future." Whew, that's a lot to handle in one show.
Friday, June 8th, 1:00AM
The Great Taste Lounge
Slight sweet draw in at the start, and the voice starts up. It is just as described in some of the reviews - silky. His voice is just very, very nice, even reminiscent of Michael Jackson of the 80s. Slightly feminine, but the right way to enjoy. The song itself is "What I Want." Then the other vocal harmonies come in - it's slow and not at all dancey, but I'll hold out for that change at least one song. The pop element is huge in it, as the chords sing out of happy-go-luckiness.
"Dear Body" brings in the electronic element. Maybe this is one of those bands that does different things in each track, not really getting itself boxed into a specific area, and thus warranting all of those different descriptions. Not totally sure what the hell they're singing about here, but the musical elements in it are pretty damn cool. This is something we can move to! Oh, and there's the drug line. Oh man, yeah, this'll work for the Roo early morning hours...
Slightly more epic sound leading into "You, Me and Jodeci." And in enters the falsetto. -_-. Y'all had me up until then. I don't know about this one in general. I mean, it's probably the bedroom song of the album, but that's sort of imbedded in the lyrics, not the movement of the music. It's just kind of annoying and trance-y, and just not in a good way. Turn off, really.
"La Casa Del Obispo" is back to the dance beat. The falsetto is still there, but it works so much better when there's not that attempt at being sexy. Even the robotic effects are easier to handle than the previous ones. There's a definite funk angle involved here, giving an awesome groove factors to the whole track unlike anything we heard before. The dynamics of this one are really incredible - ups and downs, slows and fasts, they all work perfectly with the feel of the song.
I really like the beat already for "Xoxo." I don't completely understand the direction of the song - I think it's some kind of kiss-off. But this is a rare occasion when the song meaning holds less importance to me than the beat and melodies - which are kick ass. This is just really cool. Kind of adoring every moment here, and just want to have some fun with it all.
I totally read "Monogamy" as "man-oh-goh-me" for some reason, instead of the way it's supposed to be pronounced. My degrees say I'm smart - I never claimed it though. Anywhos, it starts off with lyrics that are reminiscent of 2ge+her, but I guess it gets better. It's actually more on his lack of ability to commit. Oooook. Only in this kind of non-genre sort of music would this ever be totally acceptable, lol.
The music leads right into "Roxxy" is absolutely gorgeous, and I don't normally say that in many areas outside of instrumentals. Then this odd, husky voice comes in, and it's just... man, can these guys just lay off of the seduction techniques? It's not hot in the least bit to have a distorted voice tell you he wants to lay you down, even if he tries some cute lines about your eyes. At least do it with a normal-ish voice.
"Doses & Mimosas" makes me laugh - just the title alone, plus the reference in my own head to Sunday brunch. Man, do I love Sunday brunch. Anywhos, yeah, there is a song here, promise. We go from that deeper odd voice to this higher-pitched odd voice. At least there are lyrics though - that's a happy difference from other similar musicians I've heard. Plus, that little electric synth kind of thing is cute. This is sort of an average song comparatively to the rest of the album, but you win some, you lose some, and some you just shrug off.
Dominic Lalli comes on board for "Hold Me," and it's another "love me" song, this time luring her into, at least, something a little more meaningful. This cool wooden-flute sound comes in between verses. If it were just taken down like an octave, the song would be this entirely funky delight to delve in to fully and with full body. The cutting through my head though is just not cool enough damn it. The sentiment is sweet-ish though: "Hold me in my sleep, hold me in my sleep, hold me forever."
A very simple and familiar drum loop leads us into "All," featuring Natalie Prass. The electric keys that come in and layer on to create the full sound are light and airy, with some slight undertone of naughtiness beneath them. The lyrics sing "all I wanna do is be with you," which seems innocent enough, but that this point and with that lower register of tones played, I'm going to go ahead and say there's more to it. Also, Natalie has a nice, but far too immature voice for this.
"Don't Forget Me" is the final song. It kind of fantastically simple and relies on the lyrics more than anything to say something for the song. It's beautiful and honest and heartfelt. This is literally just a song asking that this is a person that remains in your memory. There's that element of ending for sure, but also the moments of moving on, reflection, and life in general. It gets a little trance on us, but it's appropriate in this odd little story-telling method.
Added to My Playlist:
- "Dear Body"
- "La Casa Del Obispo"
- "Xoxo"
- "Hold Me (feat. Dominic Lalli)"
- "Lynndenberries"
- "Don't Forget Me"