As the influence of the alternative 80s, New Wave and its offspring turn from retro resurgence or media-fanned fad to genuine unit-shifting modern movement, it’s sad to see that few have seen fit to update its code. If even off-the-map electro innovators Warp have signed up their own rule-following New Wave act, what hope can there be elsewhere? Tom Vek’s singles thus far have matched up sound swabs from PiL, Talking Heads, New Order and Peter Gabriel amongst others and so already skirt around the limits of the genre as it is, but this album goes further. Much further in fact. In fact the fact is that Mr Vek could have turned up at anytime, during any musical phenomenon or cultural cycle, and seemed like its very own tailor-made outlaw. He’s some kind of polymorph from the future sent to musically discipline us. Seriously. Probably.
It’s no surprise to find him oft mentioned in the same breath as Beck. This is wicked light-footed eclecticism, adventurous, playful, chilled and confident. This is especially clear on ‘The Lower The Sun’, which would be like a twinkling stoner ramble if it wasn’t so damn sharp. As an album it certainly sounds fresher than Beck’s latest though, more hungry, like it’s on its own voyage of discovery, like it’s leapt out of the bath in a fit of excitement and pronged its head on a light bulb. ‘Cover’ carries on in much the same vein, but with the recognisable loose-limbed narration of the Stereo MCs brand of fuzzy Brit flip-hop.
‘Nothing But Green Lights’ sounds like Roots Manuva having his heels bitten by slap basses, remote controlled from a bunker by Basement Jaxx. ‘C-C (You Set The Fire In Me)’ sparks off like the Beta Band lead off a rocky cliff by an indie Seal. ‘I Ain’t Saying My Goodbyes’ is Campag Velocet out of whatever dark hole it was they were festering in, listening to Television on fast forward. ‘A Little Word In Your Ear’ is a little too Robert Palmer or Huey Lewis to be comfortable, but at the other end of some scale or another ‘If I Had Changed My Mind’ is like Iggy & The Stooges unplugged, kinda, ‘Passenger’ done by Alice In Chains on E. Or something. You want more than that? You’re a madman.