Electrelane
The Power Out
Release Date: Feb 3, 2004
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Record label: Beggars Banquet / Too Pure
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Album Review: The Power Out by Electrelane
Excellent, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 4/5
Strange and lovely things are afoot. Having established their leftfield credentials with an all-instrumental debut, this female band follow it with an album that incorporates words. These are in the form of, variously, Siegfried Sassoon poetry, lines from Nietzsche and choral arrangements, set to pretentious-as-you-like guitar/electronics. Nothing is too grandiose, or ridiculous, for leader Verity Susman, who veers from squawking like a polecat on the Cocteau Twins-like On Parade to scoring the heartaching arrangement of The Valleys.
Opinion: Very Good
Electrelane's previous album, their debut Rock It To The Moon, showed a young band with energy and a sound all their own, though clearly distilling a set of inspirations ranging from Sonic Youth to Neu! More space rock than punk rock, the instrumental album included both high-energy jams and slower spaced-out motorik songs. On their follow-up, the most obvious change, and one the band may be growing tired of hearing about, is the addition of front-and-center vocals on nearly every song. This album, however, could have been made by an entirely different band than the one behind Rock It To The Moon.