The problem with listening to an entire album of electronic music is that you often feel like you are listening to the same song with a different track number.
Indeed, finding a cohesive and consistent sound while maintaining variety and occasional spontaneity is a legitimate endeavor in electronic pop music, and one that Cut Copy sometimes struggles with on its third album, “Zonoscope.”
Zonoscope provides 11 new songs from Cut Copy, an Australian pop-rock electronic group who will be featured at this year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
Lead singer Dan Whitford, with his deep yet soft voice that’s reminiscent of an ’80s pop artist, gently coos the phrase in the opening track “Need You Now” over dreamy synthesizers and a pulsating beat.
While this isn’t necessarily a danceable track, and that probably isn’t Cut Copy’s goal, there is still a sense that the song could have been better with a faster tempo or at least a more exciting crescendo for the chorus.
The second track, “Take Me Over,” however, is more energetic, with a funky guitar and bass, a simple synthesizer pattern, harmonizing “oohs” and varied percussion styles, which add a fun element to Whitford’s voice.
However, “Where I’m Going,” the album’s next track, shows that saying “ooh” is sometimes counterproductive and unoriginal, since those are the only lyrics Whitman seems to sing in the last half of the song (complimented by some “Yeah, yeah, yeah, woo!”).
This song would probably be suitable as part of the sound track for an indie romantic comedy because of its light feel, but not much else.
From the fourth track onward, Cut Copy embraces the ’80s pop sound with “Pharaohs & Pyramids,” with a singular drum beat covered in various synthesizer patterns that build into a rousing dance track halfway into the song.
The rest of the album mixes psychedelic and electro-pop sounds in a harmonious fashion, particularly in the short wordless interlude “Strange Nostalgia for the Future.” There definitely lacks extremely entertaining and danceable tracks such as “Hearts on Fire” or “Lights & Music” that were present in their last album.
This tamer effort may be Cut Copy’s transition to something different, possibly something more mature.
This album clearly shows the group’s musicality and style, but unfortunately it offers more of what we already knew they could create, and not something new and fresh.
E-mail Palumbo at mpalumbo@media.ucla.edu.