Stereolab - Not Music
- Written by Jim Merrett
If the near-20-year Stereolab journey isn’t over, it’s being held at a red light, with members stepping out the car for a cigarette. Singer Laetitia Sadier's strong recent solo effort is enough of a departure to suggest she's been squirming in the passenger seat for a while. This collection of loose ends and off-cuts from the Chemical Chords sessions could then be the last we hear of this influential outfit as a whole.
That previous offering was said to be the band's homage to Motown, but if that was the active ingredient, the end results came out like a homeopathic remedy – you'd struggle to find an atom of the Motown sound. Even at their most inventive, the differences between albums are often subtle, the band's evolution slowed down to its pace in real life biology. Maybe not the epic swansong you were hoping for, Not Music does at least have the decency to stick to the formula.
In fact, listening to the jaunty, flippant Nouvelle Vague-inspired opener 'Everybody's Weird Except Me', it can be hard to imagine a band on the verge of collapse, maybe just running low on ideas. It's almost comical to think that this band once courted so much controversy, accused of using openly Marxist lyrics (and capable of a pretty incredible live show), when most of this album fails to really sink in.
Not that Not Music is without its moments - only those standout tracks happen to be mixes that stray ever-so-slightly from the template. 'Silver Sands' is a whirling, throbbing krautrock beast that threatens to slip into 2-step. It does no such thing of course, but its oscillations grab you in a way that nothing up until that point has.
The Atlas Sound reworking of Chemical Chords' opening track 'Neon Beanbag' that draws this record to a close is a rushing pulse that can't get through it's extensive eight-minute duration quick enough. As a song it might be an inspiring full stop to a career (or semicolon, if you're a fan holding out for more), but in this context it's a reminder that you've already forgotten the rest of this particular album.
If you're hoping that this isn't the end, take comfort in that fact that it at least doesn't sound like it. It can be harsh judging a band on the basis of a selection of oddities that didn't make the last (actually good) record, but on hearing this, you can't help thinking if Stereolab had driven themselves into a cul-de-sac.