Freezepop
Fancy Ultra-Fresh
(Archenemy)
Freezepop is a trio of musicians that no doubt chose their name with little irony. Like the brightly colored and nearly pure sugar icey treat that they garnered their name from, they create hyperactive synthpop music that is fairly simple yet will probably give you a headache if you take in too much of it. Inspired equally by 80s groups like OMD and Japanese girly pop, the group has chosen some unique composition constraints that somehow haven't managed to limit their sound.
The main thing is that The Duke of Panekoeken (yeah, they all have silly names as well) programs all tracks on a handheld battery-powered sequencer called the Yamaha QY-70. With a bank of 8 sequence tracks, 3 effects and 128 sounds to work with, there's not exactly a lot of variety in terms of sound on the release, but that's not really the goal of the group. Having gotten several of their songs on video game soundtracks already, this is definitely the kind of music that you could see pumping out of the console as a couple of sugar-addled youngsters tore up a Dance Dance Revolution pad.
The components of the songs can basically be boiled down to a backing of bleeping and squiggly electronics while male and female vocals (often vocordered) sing tracks like "I Am Not Your Gameboy," That Boy Is All About Fun!" and "Parlez-Vous Freezepop?" Lyrically, it's all girl-boy simple songs about going to the mall and playing games and even a bit of puppy love. Lead singer Liz Enthusiasm is breathy and has the perfect voice for the 8-bit backing tracks and while there are definitely some unique sounds, tracks just start to bleed into one another after about the halfway point. This is synthpop of the lightest degree, leaving you with a quick buzz before fading out just as quickly. Fancy Ultra-Fresh is only for those who handle a heavy dose of sweets and not get a stomachache too quickly.
Rating: 5.75
