OttO Vector (sic) is a five piece hailing from Dearborn, near Detroit. They were formed in 2004, and comprise Renee Miller on vocals; Andrew “Ginseng” Lemanek guitar; “Mike Sonic” Glaser keyboards; Dan “The General” Lee, bass; and Willy D., drums. All of their nicknames come from their childhood, and this is their fourth self-released album.
In some ways, ‘14 North Cedgwick’ is a concept album, as the eleven tracks are all titled after the names of fictional characters who live in the apartment block of (you guessed it) 14 North Cedgwick. The album cover features a man looking through binoculars, and he is the voyeuristic chaacter observing the inhabitants.
All the tracks on the album are extremely poppy, and whilst pop may be considered a disposable medium, the album is great fun. There are plenty of catchy synth melodies, which complement the heavier guitar, bass and drums and the energy is certainly directed straight at the dancefloor.
Opener ‘Susie HICKENBOTTOM’ is very much power pop, and has some good lines in it which concern the character’s relationship.
“Tearing it all to pieces. Establish your boundaries here.
Never missed what we never had, failed to mention what went wrong.”
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Following on from this is 'shadyside MYRON', which has synth and machines, which are very reminiscent of The Fall’s early 1990’s work, and again the lyrics are about a relationship, this time with a slightly unsavoury character: “So rest your head upon conviction and your feet right on deceit/ Bete noir always to lend a helping hand.”
Other tracks that stood out for me were 'mr. BANKS', which has the makings of a dancefloor hit, and 'LYDIA', a meaty stab of electronica, which is not a million miles from what electronic pioneers like Gary Numan were doing after they beefed up their act.
Overall, whilst I thought that this was a bit samey in parts, I did find it an enjoyable listen, and would recommend OttO Vector to anyone who likes their music aimed primarily at the dancefloor.
OttO Vector at MySpace
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