Album Review: Simian Mobile Disco – Temporary Pleasure

From their huge anthems of 2007, Simian Mobile Disco have come on a long way from “Attack Decay Sustain Release”. Their forthcoming release, “Temporary pleasure” offers plenty of pleasure, though it is far from temporary I hope.
Their debut was a fun, funky and just about guaranteed to have you dancing like a loon ‘till the wee hours. Tongue in cheek, it was the soundtrack to my summer two years ago, and still sounds immense.
With this new collection of tracks, SMD have moved towards a selection of more radio friendly tunes, such as “Cruel intentions” (featuring Beth Ditto of Gossip fame) and current single “Audacity of Huge”.They also manage to retain the huge club fillers such as “1000 horses Can’t be Wrong” and “Synthesise”. Closing the album out with “Pinball”, it’s much more of a track to play at home on your own instead of being the track of a night out – a bit more creative, multi layered and artistic than the simple crowd pleasers of old.
So, what have they lost? Well, not much – they’ve just got their sound down to a T. Sure, it’s grown up – we don’t have any “Tits and Acid” on this one – but it was inevitable that they’d want to prove they’re not a one trick pony. It’s almost as if they’ve left their teenage years behind and are settling into their 20s with music that they enjoy making instead of music that the masses will love. And I think it’s all the better for it – a more complex, exciting sound.
Simian Mobile Disco – Audacity of Huge video


2 Responses
7th August 2009
Not sure if I can agree with this being an improvement. For me it’s too much of an attempt to ape the Chemical Brothers. But, rather than have a couple of good collaborations with vocallists mixed among a selection of bangers, they’ve gone somewhat overboard and the end results don’t sound right.
13th August 2009
[...] Album Review: Simian Mobile Disco – Temporary Pleasure | There … [...]