Posted on: September 14, 2009 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

I guess that I shouldn’t be surprised in any way when “Bubblewrapped” starts out with a lot of electronic influence. The band’s first track on “Bubblewrapped” is “First Rush”, and it blends together acts like HelloGoodbye, Lords of Acid, and The Rapture into something that has a current sound even as “Pretty Hate Machine”-era Nine Inch Nails sneaks in and out during the track.

The band is very diverse, and their use of a number of different styles during this disc should be fairly evident, no matter where the listener is at on the disc. Throwing in a set of female vocals to the focal point of “Boy Don’t Bother”, the overall sound is something like a Black Box Recorder blended with the late seventies and early eighties sounds of The Sounds. At some point, Electroluvs come out with a very catchy sound that will gain listeners no matter what period of music they choose to take up during the track. A smart innovation by Electroluvs has to be the runtime of the average track on “Bubblewrapped”. For the first half of the disc, the band rarely (only once) goes over the three minute mark.

This allows the band to showcase their diversity while still having an escape chute if something that they try does not work to their satisfaction. It feels as if the band has five hits all in a row for the first half of the disc, and that these tracks allow the act to go further and try longer songs for the second half of the disc. Where a number of the styles that Electroluvs play are done to death (the New Order dance of a track like “Teenage Timebomb”), Electroluvs add something special to each of the tracks on “Bubblewrapped” and this is the reason why the band has such a hit on their hands. This is the perfect album to dance to, regardless of whether one is a fan of Technotronic or Placebo. There is something for everyone here, and the eclectic style of “Bubblewrapped” allows Electroluvs to go into any other style of music that they would like for further releases. I know that I will be on the lookout for further Electroluvs releases in the near future; if you like electronic-influenced music of any stripes, you should be as well. Electroluvs is crackling with energy, and nothing can hold them back from making a great album.

Top Tracks: Teenage Timebomb, Boy Don’t Bother

Rating: 7.3/10

Electroluvs – Bubblewrapped / 2006 NinthWave / 10 Tracks / http://www.electroluvs.com / http://www.ninthwaverecords.com / Reviewed 06 September 2006

[JMcQ]

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