Reviews : Tanlines : Volume On

 

 Tanlines

 Volume On 
  [self released; 2010]
  7.8/10.0 

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It’s a funny thing when artists form new a group; often, a musician who forms new band tends to fall back on previous work, though this is not the case with production team Tanlines. The Brooklyn-based duo, Eric Emm and Jesse Cohen, emerge from their rock band origins to create Balearic synth-pop predominately influenced by over-produced dance music from the 1980’s and 90’s and pop music from cultures around the world.

Like a number of contemporary independent artists, Tanlines straddles the line between pop and dance music, yet they lean towards the former to create their own sound with melodies backed by synthesizers, airy guitars, and African-inspired percussion. Their latest release, Volume Up, is a compilation that contains all of the tracks from their EP, Settings, released earlier this year. It also has several remixes and a few unreleased gems as well.

The album contains two disks. The first is divided equally between instrumental tracks and tracks in which Emm attempts vocals. Emm is not a trained vocalist, and it clearly shows on this record, but his no-frills harmonies are trying to capture a mood, rather than attain the centerpiece of the music. On the dance party-ready “Real Life,” Emm repeats the chorus, “It was a past life thing, It wasn’t anything at all,” revealing that not everything can last, a facet of, well, real life. Midway through the first disk, True Panther label mate Glasser accompanies the bubbly “Z” to provide even more buoyancy on a song whose new-wave guitars and drum-machine rhythms would not seem out of place on a Talking Heads record.

While every recording on Volume Up is distinct, “Policy of Trust” and “S.A.W.” are the evident highlights of the compilation. On these tracks, Emm and Cohen most channel their love for early 90’s dance music and transcend their influence into something remarkable. Though among these standouts, the second disk of the album, comprised of entirely of remixes, tends to lose me, particularly on “Iced Coffee (club mix)”and the acoustic version of “Real Life,” which does not translate as well opposed to when composed through computers.

On Volume Up, Tanlines produce a seemingly perfect end-of-the-year compilation that further reinforces why they are a rising band to watch for in the coming year. And while the majority of readers might feel apprehensive about approaching an artist that has never appeared on the radio, I urge you all to go out and purchase this record because, honestly, I can't think of a more appropriate album to compliment your travels to whatever tropical destination you might be headed to over the coming winter break.