Stereo Total
Do The Bambi
(Kill Rock Stars)
I'm sure that some people who don't know me probably think that I suffer from a lack of a sense of humor, but the truth is that while I indeed do have a sense of humor, it's just a weird one. For the most part, I don't understand kitsch for the sake of kitsch (with a few rare exceptions) and don't even get me started about irreverant humor (recent releases of Kids In The Hall season boxsets are currently holding my DVD player for ransom). Having said the above, I simply can't find much enjoyable about Stereo Total.
This is the second release from the Berlin duo, and like their first release is a pastische of lo-fi synths and drum machine beats, cheesy keyboard melodies, some rockabilly-sounding guitar riffs, and french/german/english vocals by Françoise Cactus and Brezel Göring. I suppose that in admitting that I mostly don't enjoy kitsch, I'm predisposing myself for disliking Do The Bambi, but even if the lyrical content is supposed to be ironic, it's still pretty horrible. Groups like Cibo Mato (at least with their first couple releases) managed to pull off somewhat off-kilter vocals that were both vague, hilarious, and often quite seductive at the same time, but most of this release thumps along like a mind-numbing mashup between a couple hipper-than-thou Europeans and cheap Casio keyboard and my first Sony.
There are a few very spots on the album where the group seems to lock into something that works quite well, as on the campy-sounding surf-rock romp "Europe Neurotisch" and the 8-bit garage glitch of "Ne M' Appelle Pas Ta Biche," but with nineteen tracks running over fifty minutes in length, this is an album that just goes on and on for far too long while recycling the same ideas over and over again. In what was probably meant as an homage, the spoken-word and butchered Wendy Carlos synth melodies from Clockwork Orange in "Orange Mécanique" end up feeling hamfisted. If your kitsch factor is extremely high, you might want to tackle this one, otherwise stay far away.
Rating: 2
