Suicide Sports Club "Electric Mistress"

There have only been 2 singles released from the album so far, but across those singles Luke Brancaccio and Bruce Aisher captured the ears of many. The reason for this was because of their crossover appeal. I constantly encourage fans of electronic music to be open to other genres, and for those who may have been finding that a hard task, Suicide Sports Club are here to make the transition easier! Fusing together electronic elements with rock, dub, and even hip-hop, the guys have crafted an album which is impossible to categorise, but certainly one which provides an interesting listen.

Things kick off on a positive high with "Looks Like A Star". The tune is a unique combination of whistling and humming, backed by some solid piano runs. The groove is solid yet laid back, and ensures that the pace is set perfectly before coming to the ever popular "I Don´t Know", which pushes forward with a fusion of rock and hip-hop. The rap vocal works well as the underlying guitar holds everything together.

What still manages to be one of my favourite tracks on the album is their first single "The Last Ghost In Town". Most of you should recognise it, with its indie influenced guitar leads and a sly vocal from Luke Brancaccio himself. As it comes to a close, this is contrasted by a haunting piano line, which ensures we are in the right frame of mind for "02.20 Girl". The guitars take on an acoustic feel for this number, and a spaced out vocal is very remaniscent of works by Air. A highly emotional track, and the subtle synths work in perfectly with the guitar front for another standout track of the album. "Hey! Fever" is a very simplistic track, but is effective. It took a little to grow on me, but Lanni´s sultry vocal helped aid this process. The percussion picks up a filtered feel, giving it a shudder type effect, before cutting to a bridging synth as we approach "My Black Dog".

The first thing I noticed about this track was the amount of time it took to build itself up compared to others on the album. It was significantly longer, hence building up a huge sense of anticipation, as Saffron´s vocal slowly echoes in from the background. For rock fans, Saffron would be familiar as the lead vocalist from Republica, and for house fans, her voice would be familiar from Tarrentella´s "Columbia". The guitars are of the electric sort this time, giving them a much heavier feel to any of the previous tracks. Saffron´s wailing gives the track a dirty feel overall, and whether or not this does it for you will be a matter of personal taste. The music and vocals during the verses I feel are well done, however for me the chorus detracted from their feel. As the track ended, I was happy to encounter the blissful vocals of Sarah Jay on "Occupy Your Space", as Saffron was really getting on my nerves by this stage!

You should all instantly recognise Sarah´s vocal from her work with Massive Attack, one of my favourites being "Dissolved Girl". The track has the simplicity of "Hey! Fever" but with a faster pace. Some very subtle guitars in the backing give the track added depth, and this is quite a contrast to "My Black Dog". "Freeky Boy From Outside" kicks off with a beautiful downtempo groove, pushing a flanged lead, and an interesting spoken word vocal speaking of love. Percussion takes hold as the track kicks off, and the vocal is pushed into the backing. This was another high point on the album, due to the great atmosphere it created.

"Fresh Meat" is an extremely emotional instrumental number, led forward by a haunting guitar melody, supported by tightly written backing melodies. However it is all over too soon, as "Suicide Girl" makes its entrance. The heavily filtered vocal works its way over quite a strong backing instrumental with a downtempo rock feel. The atmosphere is heavy, ensuring that the album finishes on the positive high which it began with. The album would have ended perfectly....if this was the ending track.

However the guys decided to pin on the title track "Electric Mistress" without it being credited on the tracklist. But perhaps it should not have made an appearance on the album at all. The vocal is cliché, the guitar loops sound recycled, and after this finished I was wishing I had taken the CD out before letting it get to this point. It attempts to have a dark and heavy rock feel to it, but it only left me with quite a stale feeling, which sadly detracted from everything else the rest of the tracks had worked so hard to achieve.

But thankfully there are some very strong points on the album which make up for this. I know that personally with rock albums I hardly ever like every track on an album, so perhaps the guys wanted to recreate that feel with "My Black Dog" and "Electric Mistress". It is obvious that a lot of hard work has gone into this album, and Luke Brancaccio and Bruce Aisher have won over my utmost respect for putting out such a confronting album. It is highly refreshing to see artists break out of their mould and do something which dares to push the genre envelope. I can recommend this album to just about anybody, as there is sure to be at least one track on their which takes your fancy!