I'm hardly an intellectual but I do remember trying to understand Post-Modernism. It seemed, in musical terms, to be absorbing all the cultural reference points of the present and then mixing them up and presenting them in a new way. Apollo 13 certainly take a bewilderingly diffuse set of influences with this album Lovebomb and present them all over again in a mix that is sometimes confusing and sometimes inspiring.
When I heard the start of the album, "Intro", my heart sank: why did they send this to me? It was like the worst in easy listening music. But thankfully it was (I hope) a joke and was immediately followed by "The Bomb" and this is magnificent — a guitar fest in the MC5 tradition with some distorted backing "do do do" to add to the impact. I settled down expecting to be rocked till I drop.
Then comes the song "Interference" — think '80s crap, cheesy Vocoder vocals a la Herbie Hancock and Level 42 — but by the end of the song it just turns into so many avenues that it may be good, mainly due to hardcore punk intermissions that the song refers to. "Up Up And Away" confirms that the '80s cheese isn't an accident with melodies and textures worthy of the worst of Duran Duran. "Eros" is short with beats programming from advanced elecronica and string textures that even the Dirty Three would be proud of.
Hold it just a minute! What are Apollo 13 doing? Three terrible and two great songs (to my ears, maybe the opposite way 'round to your sensibilities). I've paused, raided the fridge and I can't help myself — I have to listen to more.
I feel relief when "Rollin' On" breaks into loud guitar even if it is a bit too Classic Rock for me and "Down I Go" continues the rock theme. But to add to the confusion they go into "Grandiose Palaces", dominated by the type of musical constructions that the Beatles made. I have to stop here in the review; I can't go through every track. I am confused and yet intrigued by all these jumps between genre with such control of everything they try.
In a world of copyists, you will find musicians who entice, confuse, and enrage you. These are the important bands. Anyone who merely meets your expectations is a charlatan.
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