I've always questioned why Jockstrap chose to explore the more experimental side of electronic pop music instead of producing a more approachable indietronica album. Don’t get me wrong, Taylor Skye is a talented producer, but I often find that his bias towards IDM and techno really holds the duo back artistically. On last year's ‘I Love You Jennifer B,' I found the contrast between Ellery’s lovely vocals and Skye’s experimental electronics to be intermittently harsh with moments of greatness. If you share the same problem with the first album, well things are worse here.
I<3UQTINVU is an album of remixes from ‘I Love You Jennifer B’ created by Skye at various points over the past 3 years. On the 31 minute LP, Jockstrap’s sound is pushed into even more experimental territory. Vocal hooks are chopped and mangled by autotune. Synthesizer pads and majestic sounding strings are detuned to the point where they only give the impression of harmony, if even that. ‘I Touch’, a remix of ‘Glasgow,’ has great vocals by Ellery, but the remix features chopped up electronics with acoustic guitar, and an annoying CD skipping effect that returns later in the album. Red Eye’ starts with a masked drum break before chopped autotuned vocals are smeared against a wall of noisily distorted strings and synthesizers, and while the track is hard, it leans more on the side of hot garbage than sophisticated art. ‘I Noticed You’ is a reprieve from the aharmonic chaos, and takes things in more of a house direction.
I don’t have a problem with Taylor Skye’s production style per se, just with his artistic vision for this project. And while I'm mentioning artistic vision for the project, what is up with the horrible band name and album art? I really think Georgia Ellery still has the potential to bless us with a superb pop album, but after listening to I<3UQTINVU, I’m wondering if that will come in the form of a solo album.
