Cut Copy
Zonoscope
While Cut Copy’s previous releases saw them producing music predominately along the lines of neon-drenched electro-pop/rock meant for the dance floor, their third album sounds like it was meant to take you somewhere much higher. Zonoscope glimmers with a certain sonic presence that sort of showers the ears in idyllic ecstasy – so much, that you’ll probably catch yourself looking down to make sure your feet are still on the ground.
This album grooves and glides through the ear canals while inducing a hypnotic bout of movement in the course of funky guitars, cascading drums, and up-tempo dance floor rhythms. The enticing melodies of songs like “Pharaohs and Pyramids,” with fleeting strings fluttering about on a bed of surging synths, seem to call your muscles into motion with a curled finger. At one point, things become a little disco a’la Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” escalating into boogie rapture and taking you on a ride up into the sky. But they didn’t completely leave their pop/rock roots behind, which is made obvious by songs like “Alisa” and even more so “Where I’m Going” – “one of the more pop moments of the album,” according to band guitarist Tim Hoey.
The refreshing thing about bands like Cut Copy is that they’re consistent. Far too often do artists change direction throughout their careers and sometimes lose touch with that “thing” that made us all fall in love with them in the first place, but this isn’t the case with Zonoscope. Yes, it is apparent that Australia’s new-wave faves are trying something new here, but at the same time, it’s also clear that this is just an extension of what they began with – an upgrade, so-to-speak. They haven’t lost that good thing; they’ve just gotten better.
[...] hearing us rag on Cut Copy’s new album yet? We figure you hear enough gushing over this album everywhere else, so hopefully our jabs are a welcome reality [...]
Couldn’t agree more. Every song on this album did to me what Lights & Music and Out There On the Ice did to me on In Ghost Colors: made me want to listen to it over and over. And over.
Can’t wait to see these guys in about two months out in Indio. I hope they bring the energy they brought to this album to the desert.
While I liked Bright Like Neon Love, it didn’t occur to me until the brilliant In Ghost Colors that something special was afoot with these guys. Specifically, I noticed an odd similarity between Lights & Music and New Order’s The Perfect Kiss…of course, those tracks sound nothing alike, but there was something about the structure (or, more pointedly, the flexibility of structure) of Lights & Music that provided a sort of light bulb moment for me with regard to Cut / Copy.
Refusing to squeeze into definitions, though still adhering to their own “sound,” while simultaneously continuing to evolve and move forward is something only few bands can do. Furthering the New Order comparison, this is likely Cut / Copy’s Low-Life moment – the widely accepted pinnacle of New Order’s artistic development before settling in to post-genius status (perhaps you could throw Technique in there as well, but we’ll wait until Cut / Copy records a 5th album to take the argument that far…).
Not to be trite, but they have clearly, especially now, established themselves as the New Order of their generation (which, at least in the Cupcake’s book, is significant). They are so far ahead and more critical of their craft than any of their contemporaries, its almost laughable. That they’ve now written what is clearly not only their most finely crafted album, but also a “perfect” album (no skipping required, think: L.A. Woman), they will hopefully be catapulted into territory normally reserved for the likes of The Flaming Lips. Cut / Copy is that good. Buy this album immediately.
The Smoking Cupcake
[...] between genres and ideas and moods without ever sacrificing its dancefloor momentum.” And Urb gushes “Zonoscope glimmers with a certain sonic presence that sort of showers the ears in [...]
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by URB.COM/URB Magazine and Those Chosen, Stephanie Long. Stephanie Long said: RT @URBmag: URB.COM: Cut Copy – Zonoscope http://bit.ly/guA6tL [...]