Judging by the psychedelic collage on the front of the Bubble Project’s album you’d expect a strange ride. And you’d be right.
The deranged stomp of ‘Saturn 5 Death Squad’ is a ferocious way to open the album, but isn’t representative of the more melodic treats that lie within. ‘I Only Fall in Love With Scientists’ is a lo-fi monster of a pop song, reminiscent of early Ash only with an eccentric, space-age vibe. The Sunderland outfit describe themselves as ‘Pop Scientists’ which seems like a good description given the weird samples and sci-fi sound effects which pepper their songs.
The Spectacle of Magic Dan is a nifty wee tune with a cool bassline, some nice piano flourishes, and a sing-a-long chorus. The song then blends seamlessly into ‘Mr X and The Girl with No Face’ which features woozy synths and a spoken-word outro by a Stephen Hawking-esque computerised voice. It’s pretty bizarre, but with lines like ‘She was the most perfect female specimen he had ever known/Even though she had no face’ also strangely touching!
‘M.P.O.G;’ or the ‘Mystic Pigs of Genocide’ offers-up more scuzzed-up pop before a respite from all that madness comes in the form of the instrumental surf guitar of ‘Planet Thunderfuck’ and Beach Boy harmonies of ‘Bring Back All My Smiles’
Like most of the album, ‘Oh!!! Her Joyous Brains’ is basically an other-worldly love song and boasts a cool lo-fi drum sound. Last track ‘Will You Marry Me Astro Girl’, has similar romantic sentiments, with poetic lines like ‘When we get married/I’ll give you one of Saturn’s rings/To show you how much I care’.
The Bubble Project create imaginative, slightly demented pop that seems to exist in its own little universe. Take it from me, it’s worth paying a visit!