The Shortwave Set
Replica Sun Machine
Wall of Sound
The Shortwave Set sound at once completely fresh and extremely familiar. There are reassuring Sergeant Pepper textures, the stray Simon and Garfunkel harmony and glitch rhythms that send us into a pop hallucination that should only exist in Dr. Who’s timey whimey universe. The band blissfully ignores chronology in creating some wonderful psychedelic pop miniatures. “Now Til ‘69” sets the tone with the lifted Gene Vincent phrase and pop culture references running forward and backward in time. Playing the part of the Doctor in this mad sound excursion is Danger Mouse, who is rapidly becoming one of the most interesting producers at work today. Danger Mouse is an enabler in the best sense of the word. He enables the Shortwave Set to get funky on “No Social,” planting the irresistible chorus “a dog dressed in clothes is still a dog” deep in our heads before we realize the happy tune is about complete and utter alienation. John Cale contributes a subliminal drone to the strangely uplifting “the Downer Song.” The chorus chimes, “there’s something wrong, there’s something wrong,” while in the distance a chant of “love one another” offers hope. Like the whole Replica Sun Machine experience, the parts are in opposition and the whole thing works like a dream.
The Shortwave Set: http://www.myspace.com/theshortwaveset
