Manchester-based
Richard Woolgar and Glyn Thomas are not exactly what can
be called new comers. Both of them have been members of
various amateur guitar based bands before being put on
the spot by the promoters of Mancunian mixed-gay club
Homoelectric a few years ago, giving them a week to come
up with a full live set… with machines. Logic would have
had them turning the offer down, but the two lads took
the challenge. The week-long crash course in sampling
and sound processing resulting in an extremely successful
gig, leading to Alpinestars, named after Thomas’s mountain
bike, being almost instantly signed by independent label
Riverman. The release of their first album, B.A.S.I.C.,
recorded pretty much in the same conditions as the Homoelectric
gig was conceived, saw the band integrating early 80’s
electro à la Depeche Mode, New Order or Soft Cell
with post-rave chilled electronica, with occasional guitar
insertions for good measure, evoking the breathy atmospheric
pop of Air.
Two years on, with the chill-out scene in full swing,
Alpinestars return with a much more upfront and upbeat
record. Still relying heavily on the synthe-pop movement,
Alpinestars conjure here a wider range of influences,
with guitars taking a more prominent role altogether.
White Noise opens with the sadly largely ignored
first single, Snow Patrol (Part 1). Beautifully
written and produced, this piece of perfect electronic-pop
delight sets the tone for pretty much the rest of the
album. The following three tracks keep the groove going,
with the mood changing from Kraftwerk’s Radioactivity
Balearic-style (NuSEX City) to straightforward
breathy laidback pop (Burning Up Again). Then comes
a more intimate set of songs culminating with the melancholic
Crystalnight, reminiscent of Mono’s classic Life
In Mono, and Snow Patrol (Part 2), which
manages to surpass part one, the pair toning down the
electronic elements and introducing sweeping strings to
highlight the melodic structure of the song. Follows the
much talked about second single, Carbon Kid,
featuring Brian “Placebo” Molko on lead vocals. With this
in-your-face romping composition, Alpinestars’s dirty
electro flirts with raw electric guitars and angelic choirboys.
If the music of Alpinestars still suffers from a lack
of real identity, the band having trouble breaking away
from their roots to concentrate on their musical potential,
they offer here a much more focused record, with strong
songs and good production work. Not an essential record,
but one that will keep turning up on your stereo time
and time again.
3.5/5 |
