Avagami - Metagami [Lens Records - 2007]This Chicago two piece brew up a very demented mix of pop, new wave, electronica, jazz, weird-ness & electro rock elements. The songs are littered with over-blow often bizarre theatrical vocals & strange harmonies. It mangers to be memorable and strangely commercial, yet at the same-time completely off the wall & odd, which is an hell of an balance act. Its camp,disturbing and jerky but never going too off the edge. A strange mix of throbbing 80’s synth work, bright to discordant sax playing, foot taping beat patterns, and stick in your head bass lines. Sounding at times like camp 80’s pop gone wrong, at others like sinister Broadway musical sing-songs, at others like quirky gone wrong 80’s computer game soundtrack. On the downside some of the song’s do tend to sound a little samey in places, but this can be forgiven to a certain extent this been their debut & all. They’ve certainly have a very distinctive and original sound they just need to grow on it. An intriguing and demented debut album, which certainly shows great odd promise for the future. Roger Batty
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