Genre: Electro Year: 2003 Country: USA Official Site: Blow-Up Details: Tracks & Audio Label: Electrovenus Records
Mixing electro and disco with an undeniable European touch, Exploding Plastic Pleasure is the US debut from Blow-Up, an Italian duo now based in LA.
Blow-Up's sound is very organic and their work as producers shows as much in their song textures as in their capacity to craft danceable anthems. Musically, however, this is not the most original work, as some themes have a strong taste of déjà-vu (or rather déjà-entendu) : the use of an answering machine message is now clichée—it's already been done by everybody from the Lords of Acid and Miss Kittin to rap artists—and the spoken French "Les Appels Téléphoniques" is reminiscent of Lords of Acid's "Paris France" (from Voodoo You) while "Male Stripper" is kind of the opposite—sex & tone—of Miss Kittin's robotic hymn "Stripper".
Since Exploding Plastic Pleasure gathers both new works and tracks from In Technicolor, an earlier release, the various directions taken by this album become more understandable, making it an introductory piece. The duo also knows how to cultivate the kitsch inherent to the electro music genre and the fact that they don't take themselves too seriously allows Exploding Plastic Pleasure to go beyond its melting-pot aspect.
Their European heritage is omnipresent here, from the lyrics sung in English, French, German & Italian, to the current Euro-electro vibe and their name, a reference to Michelangelo Antonioni's classic. Singing is definitely not their thing—particularly on "Nacht des Leguans" and "Don't you want me"—but the awkwardness of their voice and accent conjugated to the music gives it, in general, a fun "80's disco italiano" feel.
Exploding Plastic Pleasure opens with "You can't make me do that", co-written by Dee Dee Ramone and featuring new wave guitars before launching into a fairly straightforward collection of contagious dance tunes such as "Go over with a bang", "Hurt me" & "Male Stripper". But what one certainly will remember from this album are three songs, different in style but indelible: "Uncontrollable Love", haunted by Deborah Harry's voice, the frenetic "On the prowl" to which Lydia Lunch brings her rough sexuality (watch out Kittin, Lords & Peaches) and the guilty dance floor pleasure "Fly with me".
Blow-Up Exploding Plastic Pleasure
