The Russian Futurists
Let’s Get Ready to Crumble
Upper Class
Whimsical, condensed and glazed with the loveliest melodies, Canada’s Matthew Adam Hart follows his trans-Atlantic critical fave The Method of Modern Love with another darkly romantic and beautifully sinister album of lo-fi dream pop, once again paraphrasing everyone from the Flaming Lips to the Magnetic Fields. Armed with a bunch of cheap Casio synths, a drum machine and a worn-out tape recorder, Hart wraps his lovely and lustful melodies in dark pop music, so tightly overdubbed that his portable studio threatens to combust with each new note he reaches for, creating the feel of a wordy Brian Wilson working on a shoestring budget. And, if the songs seem almost too rich and layered initially, repeated listens reveal a textured and endearing album with words and music crammed neatly and considerately into position. “When the Sun Drops Like an Anvil” could’ve been a glorious XTC outtake, while “You Dot, Me Dot, T-Dot” offers sparkling lo-fi pop. “I do pop ‘cause that’s what my heart goes, I don’t call it art, no sir, that denotes that when I wrote it I had other motives,” he sings on the album’s title track. And, those lines somehow perfectly encapsulate the album’s sense of wit, wonder and weary-eyed romanticism. This is an honest and intriguing album that never mistakes melodrama for everyday emotions, and that, at a mere 27 minutes, does anything but outstay its welcome. One of the few original new voices of contemporary lo-fi pop, the 23-year old Hart has only just started, but has already come a long way.
Russian Futurists: http://www.geocities.com/russianfuturists/
