Do you ever watch "I Love the '80s" on VH-1? Doesn't it make you cringe? Can you believe how insanely cheesy the consumers of the '80s let pop culture get? Oh, wait--it doesn't make you cringe? You think that '80s pop culture was adorable and you love to get dressed up and crimp your hair for the local '80s night?
I just don't understand it. What the hell is wrong with you? When will you realize that pop culture was at its peak in the early '90s (and then with the advent of Hanson, the Spice Girls, and boy bands it went into a downward spiral from which it has not yet recovered)? Your fascination with the '80s had better just be an ironically detached one and not true reverence, if you know what's good for you, Missy!
I'll confess--I can't stand '80s dance music. It's just too damn cheesy. Even a lot of New Order songs sound too cheesy to me. A lot of '80s music could be better than it was if they had just turned down the cheese level. That's why these '80s-influenced electronic pop bands are good. They take the good stuff from the '80s and leave a lot of the cheesiness behind. That's also why a lot of covers of '80s songs sound better than the original. Get it? (Strangely enough, however, I do have a soft spot for some of the contemporary electronic pop that wears its '80s dance music on its sleeve, especially I Am the World Trade Center and Ladytron. And now, Freezepop.)
And what about Freezepop? Freezepop takes its '80s revival job the most seriously out of all the '80s revival electronic pop bands out there. Well, not extremely seriously. Their music is all about fun. Far from being as hip as Ladytron, and more sugary and kitschy than I Am the World Trade Center, Freezepop have made a unique little niche for themselves in the whole scheme of '80s nostalgia. Their allegiance to the '80s is the least ironic and most faithful of any (or most of the) electronic pop bands out there, but thanks to that rose-colored filter of nostalgia that absorbs most of the impurities for which the '80s are notorious, their music is very digestible.
So, let's get more specific about Freezepop here. Freezepop is a
three-piece, two men and one woman. Most of the vocals are female (which makes it more appealing to me), but you've got some male backing vocals and lead male vocals on two songs. They do use vocoder, but not so much that it gets annoying. All their music is done on a Yamaha synthesizer. Now, I don't know how significant that is, but maybe that'll mean something to any synth geeks out there. Even though their music is all done on this synth, their songs don't sound too much like either. That must be a great synth!
The lyrical content? It’s quite twee in nature and very cutesy. Lots of boy-girl love. My favorite about the boy-girl love songs is the album's leadoff track, "Stakeout", which is sung from the point of view of an girl secretly checking out an indie boy outside the local record store. I also like "Chess King", one of the male lead vocal turns, in which the singer picks up a girl at a mall. The climax is when they get in the elevator together. "First floor, you tell me that you like me outside the Espirit. Second floor, you tell me that you need me. Oh, you're so heavenly. Third floor, you tell me you deserve me. It's you I adore. Fourth floor, you tell me that you love me, my heart starts to soar."
But the really big hit standout track is "I Am Not Your Gameboy". It
starts off with a Speak and Spell spelling "Freezepop" in two tries (on the first attempt, the Speak and Spell spells out "F-R-E-E-Z-E-P-O-O-P) and then launches into an upbeat little number that happens to be one of the most unlikely feminist anthems. "I don't have Ms. Pac Man, Asteroids, or Donkey Kong," begins the stern, yet upbeat warning. "Don't look here for Tetris, even Super Mario. Don't ask me, I told you no." And things get even more clear with, "I don't have a joystick, or a backlit LCD. Don't push that cartridge inside me. 'Cause I'll push back, just wait and see." But really, this isn't a serious riot grrrl anthem. It's a very fun party song to which all the cool kids will be partying... if they ever encounter it.
Oh, and if you want a good idea of the extent of Freezepop's allegiance to the '80s, I guess I should tell you that one of the songs is entitled "Boys on Film". And besides that, here's a real kicker... there's an unlisted track. The unlisted track is a cover of the theme from the '80s cartoon, Jem. Yes, it’s the show about the female rock singer. Yes, it’s done in electronic pop fashion. Now you '80s fanatics know you have to have this CD.
But still, I love this album.
--Eric Wolf
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