It’s undeniable that Stereolab belong in the indie rock pantheon of legends. While developing an unmistakable sound, Stereolab has also touched on a staggering number of style and influences: European pop, Krautrock, bossa nova, synthpop, avant-jazz, IDM, twee, noise drone, bachelor pad music, amongst so many others. At their peak, around “Emperor Tomato Ketchup,” their music was both classic and futurist. However, that was some time ago. A few ho-hum releases, changing tastes and familiarity have made Stereolab seem less innovative and fresh, and more like holdovers from 90s indie. The question isn’t even so much whether their releases are good anymore as much as whether they are relevant at all. Despite 2004’s “Margarine Eclipse” being a pretty decent album, I don’t know anyone – even fans of Stereolab’s older material – who really listens to it regularly. Well, I’m not going to as far as make a statement as dramatic as saying ‘Stereolab is back!,’ but, well, yeah, they kind of are.
“Fab Four Suture” is as good as anything Stereolab has released in years, at least since “Cobra and Phases…” The catch is that this isn’t really a proper studio album. “Fab Four Suture” is actually a compilation of sorts. It collects three 7” releases from 2005 as well as the music going to be issued on three new 7” releases. While some of their recent material has seemed middling, spark-less and genteel, the twelve songs on “Fab Four Suture” shine with the exotic pop sensibility that made Stereolab’s reputation. Also, of note, is that while they may have moved away from the groove starting on “Captain Easychord,” “Fab Four Suture” succeeds because it reintroduces the snappy rhythms of old.
This is made immediately clear with opening track “Kyberneticka Babicka Part 1” (they never did lose their knack for arty, vaguely Marxist, retro-futurist titles). A blast of lyric-less sunshine onto what is sure to be many skeptical listeners, “Kyberneticka” fuses 60s pop harmonies, bouncy drums, and bending synth textures, and proves to be a revelation (that the disc ends with “Kyberneticka Babicka Part 2,” essentially the same song, is redundant but forgivable).
In many ways, “Fab Four Suture” feels like a greatest hits album, but with different songs. The disc showcases many of the group’s biggest strengths and stylistic victories: “Interlock” features swirling instrument lines over a driving drum beat before a bass driven disco interlude. The intro to “Plastic Mile” features their trademark drone-organ undercurrent before switching to a swelling waltz. “Vodiak” is the kind of hyper-fast walking melody that highlighted the peaks of “Emperor Tomato Ketchup.” “Whisper Pitch” is Laetitia Sadier’s prettiest vocal performance since Mary Hansen’s untimely death. The quirky “Get A Shot of the Refrigerator” finds a way to include harpsichord along with jazzy guitar over a chipper bass line. In a better world, the punchy “Visionary Road Maps” would be would club hits sounded like. “I Was a Sunny Rainphase” employs the krautrock drum/bass dynamic, augmented by tinkling Rhodes piano, swelling Farfisa, and booping synths echoed by Sadier’s voice.
The album’s biggest flaw, likewise, is the thing that detractors have always been able to stick on the group, that it’s too clean and controlled. True, it would be nice to feel a bit more chaos and unhinged passion at times. You can just feel beneath many tracks, for example “Excursions Into ‘Oh, A-Oh,’” there’s a !!! style rhythmic orgy dying to unleash. However, this has never been Stereolab’s m.o., so there’s not exactly any surprise in their tasteful decorum. And to be fair, “Excursions” does have a killer jam outro as heavy as anything they’ve ever done.
Stereolab is touring the U.S. for the first time in a few years and while they obviously have an ample back catalog, it would be great if they shone a spotlight on some of this excellent new material, which also seems well suited to being performed live. The word is that the group is planning on returning to the studio later this year to begin work on their next proper studio album. Let’s hope they bring some of this new energy present on “Fab Four Suture” with them. Then, we can officially call it a comeback. |