I might be misjudging my audience here, but you remember the 1980's? By "remember" I don't mean "act them out in a horrible retro manner while not letting on that you were born in 1990." I mean remember. Predator. Commodore 64. Endless Mattel toy lines. The entire decade fucking ruled and if you dare to disagree I cannot be held responsible for my actions.
Now, imagine that all those memories you have of the 1980's were somehow pushed together to form one little hyper-dense cube. And that everyone else's memories were added to it until it formed some kind of glowing, throbbing pulsar. It would probably be lime green. Follow that up by imagining someone taking this thing of unimaginable power, congealing it into a purely physical form and creating something round, flat and about forty minutes long. That is Stainless Style by Neon Neon.
When I first muddled around with writing this review in my head, I was trying to locate something that I could use to hold Neon Neon up against. You know, a kind of more-80's than The Goonies sort of thing, but I gave up in the end. Because I realized that it is quite possible that Neon Neon are more 80's than the 80's. At every turn they have slipped through my devilishly sharp reviewing fingers. I was going to say that it sounds like a new attempt at a soundtrack to Romancing the Stone before I realized that they actually have a track called "Michael Douglas" so it might cut it a bit too close.
But what does this beautiful monstrosity actually sound like, I hear you cry. In short, electro-pop. Not so short masterfully crafted electro-pop. It's not so much cheesy or anthemic as it is definitive. I am perfectly serious in saying that while I was listening to this album, fully aware of its release date, I was still struggling to tell myself I hadn't heard these songs on the radio in my childhood. There are touches of later influences throughout some guest MC work and breakbeats but these tend to be the weaker material on show and quite frankly I much prefer the guilty pleasures of the likes of "Dream Cars" and "I Told Her On Alderaan."
Oh, and this is a Super Furry Animals side-project. And a concept album about the life of John DeLorean, notorious playboy car manufacturer. Just to add to the surreal nature of it. I imagine that this review has been mostly pointless to you as a reader, since my description of Stainless Style as being more 80's than the 80's has either had you spitting at your monitors in disgust or clicking desperately to secure yourself a copy. Either way is fine with me, as long as I can listen to Neon Neon in my mirrorshades, Global Hypercolor shirt, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles bermuda shorts. Word.
See also
Talking Heads, Men At Work, Toto, Men Without Hats
