Videohippos – Unbeast The Leash

Videohippos – Unbeast The Leash / 2007 Monitor / 12 Tracks / http://www.videohippos.com / http://www.monitorrecords.com /

The electro-indie rock of Videohippos reminds me of a coked-out reinterpretation of Neil Young’s Trans album. There is an earthy, natural progression to the track even as the synthesizer and electronic fuzz seem to paint a picture opposed to that. “Tooth Sub” is the first track on the disc, and the band’s only fault at the onset of this disc has to be a little too much reliance on the same arrangements that were present throughout the entirety of the disc. However, the band flips the script for “The List”. The overall structure of the track is the same, but there is a little bit of a depressed and downtrodden sound to this track.

No worries for fan of the electronic stylings of Videohippos; they are just as present during this track as they were on “Tooth Sub”. The band cuts a little extra off this track, so that the problem with repetition does not occur on this track. The momentum that the band had up to this point is decreased dramatically with the quote that starts out “Take It”. This track is more of the same dreamy type of indie cum electronic rock that the band has crafted prior on this disc, but the quotation seems to cut them off at the knees.

The band keeps the vast majority of tracks well below the three minute mark, which may be the smartest move taken by the band. It is not that the band does not know how to finish a longer song (the success of “Rider” at almost four minutes should be proof of that), but rather they do not want to risk something along the line of “Tooth Sub” happening. One of the most solid tracks on “Unbeast The Leash” is the downtempo “Bear Fight”, and the track wraps up before the band hits the two and a half minute mark. Videohippos create a cohesive set of tracks for this album, and while tracks do expand considerably (the whistling during “Kool Shades”, for example), individuals know from the onset of the track that it is a Videohippos sound. Quirky, fun, and danceable, “Unbeast The Leash” is a post-post-post modern album, dense and full of emotion but able to reach the highest chart numbers. Check out Videohippos; their star will only rise higher with years in the genre and subsequent albums released in the next five or ten years.

Top Tracks: Rider, Kool Shades

Rating: 6.8/10