1996 08 Vox Electronic "Raise The Pressure" Review

Out of Order!

Electronic
Raise The Pressure
(Parlophone)

OH, THE eulogies that greeted Electronic’s landmark debut in 1990.

Somehow, ‘Electronic’ seemed to be exactly what the world was waiting for. Boasting New Order’s left-field synth-pop smoothness and the instantly recognisable jangle of Johnny Marr's heroic guitar, it skipped into our hearts on a roll of sharp dance beats. It was in other words, perfect pop. Perfect for a world then in the fevered grip of indie-dance crossovers.

Six years on, nothing has changed - except the world. ‘Raise The Pressure' still offers plenty of perfect pop moments, but these are emphatically not of the moment. Four years in the making, ‘Raise The Pressure’ blithely strolls along from dance-pop ditty to dance-pop ditty, oblivious to the revolutions in electronic music ignited by the likes of jungle and trip-hOp. Where before, Barney Sumner's synthesised strings and simple, house-y rhythms sounded clean and bright, they now trigger a vague nostalgia for the days of ‘Blue Monday’. And Johnny Marr’s trademark guitar chime has been so heavily co-opted by BritpOp that the cumulative effect of Electronic’s fusionary efforts ends up sounding like... the Lightning Seeds. Which is no bad thing, if you like football themes! But Electronic have been thrashed four-nil in the dance-pop division by the Seeds and the dreamy likes of Dubstar, and they’re several points down in the cutting-edge electronic league, trailing after the phoenix-like Everything But The Girl and Portishead.

Not even the influence of Kraftwerk's Karl Bartos on ‘Forbidden City’ is enough to lift Electronic out of the realm of the predictable - not least because you can’t discern any of his trademark techno-pop flourishes on the track. In fact, intriguing electronic conceits are kept well in the background here, only bubbling up unexpectedly on songs like ‘If You've Got Love’ and the brief ambience of ‘lnterlude’.

Every opportunity to make a dangerous electronic noise is passed up in favour of safe familiarity. Electronic haven’t raised the pressure - they've dropped the ball. 5

Kitty Empire