OMG, Techno Chicks!!!
Until today I was blissfully unaware of the fact that I Was A Teenage Satan Worshipper had recently released a new album, but on my trip to Helsinki today I managed to stumble upon said record in Keltainen Jäänsärkijä. The title of the album is The Lemonade Ocean and it is, in my opinion, quite impressive.
IWATSW's previous album, Whatevernights, suffered from a general lack of, well, good songs. This time around these cutesy electro-poppers have managed to fix all of those problems. Having only listened to the album once I've already found some strong contenders for the place of my favourite Teenage Satan Worshipper song: "Pop (H)Ate(S) Itself", despite the rather clunky name, is an absolutely delightful pastiche of 80's pop. It almost sounds like The Cure snorted a bunch of coke with New Order and then had an orgy in Pet Shop Boys' studio. "Beat Your Boyfriend" explores an entirely new ground for IWATSW with its almost noise-ish sensibilities, while "So 2001" and "Art School Creeps" are experiments in the peculiarly IWATSW-like fast electro-bubblegum-punk that we all know and love. While they bring to mind their earlier songs "Candy Candy" and "Sugar Free" they sound a lot more crisp and cohesive.
The album is not pure win, though. The song "OMG, Techno Chicks!!!" takes an awesome title and turns it into a song that is quite nondescript, which makes me a sad panda. All around, if you liked Bees & Honey, I'm sure you'll love The Lemonade Ocean. If you're still traumatized by Whatevernights, this album is a great way to restore your faith in I Was A Teenage Satan Worshipper. I'm giving this album a high-five!
IWATSW's previous album, Whatevernights, suffered from a general lack of, well, good songs. This time around these cutesy electro-poppers have managed to fix all of those problems. Having only listened to the album once I've already found some strong contenders for the place of my favourite Teenage Satan Worshipper song: "Pop (H)Ate(S) Itself", despite the rather clunky name, is an absolutely delightful pastiche of 80's pop. It almost sounds like The Cure snorted a bunch of coke with New Order and then had an orgy in Pet Shop Boys' studio. "Beat Your Boyfriend" explores an entirely new ground for IWATSW with its almost noise-ish sensibilities, while "So 2001" and "Art School Creeps" are experiments in the peculiarly IWATSW-like fast electro-bubblegum-punk that we all know and love. While they bring to mind their earlier songs "Candy Candy" and "Sugar Free" they sound a lot more crisp and cohesive.
The album is not pure win, though. The song "OMG, Techno Chicks!!!" takes an awesome title and turns it into a song that is quite nondescript, which makes me a sad panda. All around, if you liked Bees & Honey, I'm sure you'll love The Lemonade Ocean. If you're still traumatized by Whatevernights, this album is a great way to restore your faith in I Was A Teenage Satan Worshipper. I'm giving this album a high-five!