I seem to be reading a lot of press releases and promotional blurb at the moment, perhaps because there are a lot of CD by acts I know little about.
So.
Desolation Yes! (don’t forget the ‘!’) are, apparently, ‘Futurepop’. Which seems a little odd. Yes, they check all the boxes – synths, beatboxes, metallic nasal voices – for what was once called ‘futurist’ … back in the 80s, that is. There is actually a track called ‘Futurepop’, which goes “I wanna see you on the dancefloor.” An admittedly catchy tune, but somewhat spoiled by some keyboard sounds Nik Kershaw might have rejected as being a wee bit too cheesy. Meanwhile, on ‘Pure’, sheet metal guitars sit awkardly atop Bontempi rhythms.
The band are at their best when they’re playing it doomy and moody, as on ‘Tease Me’ – it’s a bit portentous, more Wayne Hussey in delivery than the studied cool you usually expect from anything with “future” in its mission statement.
However, as they suggest, it probably is at the forefront of the new wave of ‘Futurepop’. Assuming this genre actually exists, that is. And assuming that we are actually living in 2011. In which case, you can immediately sample a track and make your own minds up.
