Neon Neon - Stainless Style

Jul 9, 2008

The expression 'concept album' is one that strikes fear into the hearts of music lovers everywhere. Who can forget Roger Daltrey's heartfelt performance on Tommy? And more recently, how about Green Day's execrable American Idiot? On the rare occasion that it goes right, such as Bowie's mercurial Ziggy Stardust, it can be a wonderful thing, but rock history is littered with far more misses than hits in this category. So with this in mind, it must be a brave or crazy person who attempts to right the wrongs of this reviled genre. It's probably fair to say that Gruff Rhys, long time Super Furry Animal and no stranger to the weirder side of music, is a little from column A and a little from column B.

Roping in American producer of some eclectic styles, Boom Bip, Rhys has attempted to evoke the 80s through a weird and wonderful collection of tracks. The concept is bizarre enough - an album dedicated to the 80s behemoth and star of Back To The Future, the DeLorean car (the duo originally went by the moniker DeLorean before settling on Neon Neon) and the artwork leaves us under no illusion of what to expect. Slender fingers grip gear sticks and bare female feet caress leather upholstery. So is this an exercise in repressed vehicular sexuality or an affectionate nod to a decade much maligned?

Despite the odds being massively stacked against them (this is an album that really shouldn't have got off the ground, let alone work) Neon Neon actually pretty much pull this off. The album sets out its stall with the appropriately titled opener, 'Neon Theme', seemingly a homage to 80s soundtracks in the vein of John Carpenter's DIY score for the likes of 'They Live' and 'Assault on Precinct 13'. We don't get to hear Gruff's voice until the second track 'Dream Cars', and it's an absolute treat when we do. The Furries man's distinctive style blends seamlessly with Boom Bip's production and he puts in a performance of lyrical genius. The aforementioned track's refrain, 'Dream girls in cool cars, cool girls in dream cars...' is edged out just by 'You'll see my reflection in Michael Douglas's Mirror sunglasses' on 'Michael Douglas'. His voice hits it's peak on the absolutely sublime Star Wars tribute, 'I Told Her On Alderaan', (sample lyric, 'I Told Her On Alderaan that Nothing Else Is Going On') which manages to invoke the spirit of Phil Collins whilst remaining utterly brilliant. Also worth a mention is the frankly filthy sounding 'Sweat Shop', all breathy female vocals and double entendres that wouldn't be particularly out of place on a Fiddy album. The album isn't perfect - there are a couple of lulls such as the heavily electro 'Trick For Treat', while some of the darker hip-hop stuff seems a little out of step with the slightly camp fun of the rest of the album. Overall however, they seem to have succeeded in bringing the standard of the dreaded concept album up a notch.

Harry Powell

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