Oh crikey. It’s the eighties again still. Simple beats, strobe-tempo bass line, echoey vocal swirls, chopped guitar chords and no embellishments.
But I’m holding back ….
VOLUNTEER would have made at least a cult success in 1983 if they had invented all this stuff at the time (was it ’83? It all seems so long ago). But in 2007 they seem destined to give huge entertainment to smallish crowds in the lesser venues and win respect for having a certain Blaine L Reininger thing going on.
On this well-presented vinyl EP VOLUNTEER sound European: European like Midge Ure singing Vienna perhaps, but not so distraught. I kind of like it but I’m not sure who to recommend it to. It’s going to be a word of mouth thing, a select group of admirers who enjoy the template-based sound and Martin Andrew’s (very good) brooding voice. If people find GOLDFRAPP interesting and original – well who’s to say VOLUNTEER haven’t got at least that much going for them?
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“Final Hour” goes a bit gloomier and less danceable that “Sweet Love” or “Hero In Waiting”. Being nearly twice as long it probably takes the edge off what would have been an attractive single. When all has finished it’s the echo of the first two dance tunes that remains.
www.myspace.com/infovolunteer
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