Wednesday, March 9, 2016

The Black Queen - Fever Daydream (2016)

Fans of The Dillinger Escape Plan might be a little surprised by this electronic side project from frontman Greg Puciato. While I've always known him to have a rather pleasant clean vocal approach during some of the band's more lighter numbers, this sees Puciato traveling back the eighties – yes, if you remember GTA: Vice City, you might start to understand exactly what I'm talking about. The music here is a definite throwback to the days of wave music, and is a perfect addition to New Wave revivalism. I always felt that New Wave was very much the music of the future, much more than the electro-pop of which we're bombarded and though it shares a distant cousin, it is definitely nothing you could ever compared to the junk that's coming out of the Hollywood music industry. The record itself is actually quite intimate, and the lyrics quite passionate. I'm reminded heavily of Depeche Mode during their prime, as well as The Pet Shop Boys and possibly even The Cure in some instances. True, there aren't any guitars to be found here, but Fever Daydream is a different kind of album. It's a sort of romantic, industrial experience that many of you probably thought would never come out of Dillinger. You're also be surprised at some of the high notes that Puciato hits, showing that he could very well have been in a pop band if he'd wanted to. The man's purely a great singer and this different medium shows a very different side from him then we're used to. I believe that the screaming and rough stuff that makes up Dillinger will be back to throw us over a cliff later in the year, but for fans of classic electronic music, New Wave and most certainly even darkwave, you'll find something inside of this rather intriguing and truly intimate experience. It's not for everyone, but not everything is. I rather enjoyed it and would certainly recommend it. It's not everyday that such an approach like this is done justice. Surely, I'd consider it a perfect album that only gets better with each listen. Once again, the heavy stuff will be back later – but for now, you can sink your teeth into this unexpected and appreciated piece of music. Greg has already started this project on such a high note that I have no earthly idea as to how he'll top it with the next disc, which hopefully we won't have to wait long for.

(10 Tracks, 42:00)

10/10

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