Electric Penguins - Goodbye From The Electric Penguins

For most bands who reside in ambient pop territory, it requires a lot of studio wizardry to reach the desired sound. This would include pro tools, cut 'n paste, and lots of fancy schmantzy programming. Although this is all well and good, Dublin's Electric Penguins would rather do it old school. Heavily influenced in the ways of ambient pioneer Brian Eno, the band's debut full-length "Goodbye From The Electric Penguins" uses only 70's sounds such as Moog, Mellotron, Farfisa organ and other regular instruments. Despite this, their sound is slightly retro, but not at all dated, sounding a bit to me like other modern electro-popsters such as Fujiya and Miyagi. Vocally, Mark Cummins sounds less like a progressive rock Brian Ferry and more like a modern day version of OMD's Andy McCluskey. While I do enjoy the ambient sounds of "Gelb" and "Blau", I personally believe the album's strengths are definitely to be found in their pop forays. For example, the single "Supergirl" is a song that is so impressively heavy on slightly 80's atmospherics, that Jared Hess should have just turned here for soundtrack material instead of relying on classic overused 80's one-hit wonders (i.e. When In Rome.) Another pop standout is the two-parter "Translatlantic," which is by far the album's most adventurous piece. The first part is a New Order-ish groove, a song that is entirely accessible and catchy. The song then takes a significant turn with its second part where it undergoes a completely enveloping climate change into a beautiful audio landscape for the senses. The following song is "Lonnie" which is a perfect end to this 3 song trilogy (or 4 song quadrupling, if you count "Transatlantic" as 2 songs,) capping off what, to me, is the highlight of the album. As with most releases, the album does run a little bit long and I personally get a little bit tired of the vocoder after a while, but those are just minor grievances. Overall, "Goodbye From The Electric Penguins" is the equivalent of a meal that tastes so good that you have trouble believing that it's organic and good for you, but trust me, it is.

Myspace: Electric Penguins
Video: Lonnie youtube
Purchase: Goodbye From The Electric Penguins at the Psychonavigation online store