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ELECTRICO Hip City (Universal Music) |
 NO, this is not a random compilation of the latest electronic sounds but the second album by Singaporean pop rock band Electrico. Having gotten together for a church event in 1996, the team of four guys lost one member, gained another, then headhunted a cute girl keyboardist. The result was 2004's well- received debut album, So Much More Inside. Since then, Electrico has (in its home city) garnered a couple of radio station No. l s and a nomination for "Favourite Singaporean Artiste" at the 2005 MTV Asia Awards. The band also crossed the Causeway and played last year's Rock the World 7 festival. This sophomore effort sees the same affable melodies combined with heavy guitar riffs and danceable rhythms; title track Hip City sounds like Pulp's Disco 2000, for example. There's less shoegazing than you'll find on the Singapore indie scene however, with bald-faced anthemic rock 'n' roll the order of the day ... the likes of The Killers and Franz Ferdinand being obvious influences. Add to this a good dose of dynam- ic energy and movement and you've got several standout songs with all the uplifting pogo-able ingredients to make it worthy of any Friday night at Zouk KL's Loft. Outside of any sentimental associations even, Hip City has just enough interesting textures - its tight combination of bassline and guitars makes it a bit more intellectual than the average garage band - and changes of pace (see Electricorp's endearing breakdown into a slow segue) to make it worth a pop into your CD player. |
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