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Review Summary: weak coffee that tastes surprisingly good. Futurepop is an incredibly predictable genre, and a brief look at any given band or album of the genre will confirm that assumption. Take, for instance, Cesium_137’s Identity, which embodies everything you wanted or didn’t want in a futurepop album. In terms of electronics used, synthesizers are dominant and constantly buzzing around in a completely encompassing yet inescapable manner. Mixed in time with the thud of ever-present, permeating beats, the sensation is overwhelming, and may evoke a state of blissful euphoria, or nervous depression. The best futurepop albums know how to play with emotions, and while I certainly wouldn’t call this one of the best, I would venture to call it a solid album. Cesium_137 plays their style just differently enough so as to keep interest. After all, playing it by the book is boring, and especially boring when it has been read and copied to the umpteenth time. Cesium_137 has just enough originality to capture attention, and that is exactly what happens in Identity.
I imagine Identity would work well as the soundtrack to a science fiction epic. The atmosphere they create is cold, unfriendly, and distant, the equivalent of being stabbed, in your dreams, with an icicle. It seems so far away, as if it isn’t actually happening, but in reality it’s right there and it’s crushing you. This violence happens systematically, the cold robotic beats continuously shock and pummel amongst the icy soundscape. The echoed cries cut through the air like a knife, but only the harsh Arctic wind responds. You are alone, in the middle of a frozen landscape, and naked – there is no way you will survive this. However, this is definitely not real life, for you are in a simulation created by vastly intelligent beings, the ice is about as real as Michael Jackson’s nose. At some point you will become aware of what is being done to you, and at that point you will race through the futuristic spaceship attempting to escape (maybe I should write a book about this). The sound of lasers firing soon becomes familiar as the task to leave the ship seems impossible. This is what to expect from the album, and it is blatantly clear that you may never leave.
Amidst the cold, science fiction atmosphere, it is unfortunately much simpler than you’d think. Futurepop, after all, is influenced by synthpop, so the method in which the genre is described almost always sounds better than it actually is. In this case, the atmosphere is engrossing but the simplicity often wakes the listener from their pleasant sleep. The album is frustratingly simple, and this simplicity can often lead to surprisingly weak choruses. The verses may impress with their creepy whisperings and such, but when the songs call for power, the group does not follow through. Their power is mostly in the darkness of the synths, the mood that the alien feeling of the music induces. Beyond that there isn’t much else to keep the listener interested; it is the sci-fi and unfamiliar aspect of the sound that is compelling. As always with futurepop, the mood is key, and when in the mood for effective music, Identity is worth a listen.
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One of the most consistent acts in the futurepop business.
Embers, Dither, Firewalker, and Broken all kick serious ass.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Cool, this is their only album I've listened to actually.
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If that's the case, you're bound to enjoy their other two albums.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
It'll happen.
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I feel like this was just as much a description of future pop as it was a review of the album, and a lot of the second paragraph, while well-written and certainly interesting, didn't tell me much...maybe a few examples of the music to bridge all of your analogies? I dunno just a thought. Pos'd though.
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wait futurepop is an actual genre?
lol great review pizza
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Good job kintups!
IRVING POS.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
@ Sowing: I was kinda afraid someone might say that haha. It's kind of difficult to describe different futurepop albums differently because they all sound so similar! You have your beats, your synthesizers, your usually similar vocals, and not much else. So I usually find that the variation lies in the emotion the album exudes, the feeling of it all, the purpose behind the music. To me, this album sounded extremely cold and distant. Especially science fiction-ish too. Hope that helps?
@ Apollo: Haha thanks!
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Oops didn't catch you Irving. I c wut u dd theres!
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Hahahah! But as you can see, I make good on my promises ;)
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It's kind of difficult to describe different futurepop albums differently because they all sound so similar!
Totally agree with this. I can still differentiate bands when I listen to them, but it is awfully hard to write something different about each of them.
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That helps, maybe it was just my unfamiliarity with the genre
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Bah futurepop... Aside from that this was a great review pizza, your reviews are always a pleasure to
read. Pos
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
@ Sowing: Yeah that probably has to do with it.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Cool to see a review of this, wanted to read up on it a bit before getting it.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
While the opening sample to "Stray" makes me smile I don't know what to think of the album as a whole. It gives of a strong minimalist vibe to me, and while I know that's not necessarily the case it has yet to really grow on me; given time though I might come around.
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Is there any reason behind their band name? I'm kinda curious about that.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Off the top of my head no, but their FB page says:
Cesium_137 is named after a radioactive isotope of caesium. It continues a tradition in industrial music of incorporating a number in the band name, which became popular after the example of Front 242. It also continues the narrower tradition in industrial music of adopting the name of an isotope as the band name, as with Carbon 12 and Front 242 offshoot Cobalt 60.
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Well yeah, I just wondered why they use a chemical element, but if that number's the only reason, too bad...
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Yeah I never was around the scene when isotopes and numbers became the rage, while I don't mind I'm glad the genre seems to have moved past that trend.
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