Django Django - Born Under Saturn
- Written by Rob Crozier
The lo-fi kings of the underground are back with more upbeat guitars and constructed harmonies. Following their hugely successful debut album the band have had to approach the tricky second album syndrome. However despite it rearing its ugly head in most part the band has navigated it well.
New album Born Under Saturn sees the band’s sound remain largely the same as before - catchy pop hooks combined with lo-fi beats and dirty guitars.
‘Shake And Tremble’ gets the album going with some wonderful controlled feedback as it launches into a great opening with funky, jangly guitars meeting pop harmonies which could yet prove to be one of the tracks of summer it's that good. The album continues to produces infectious catchy sounds. The lead single ‘First light’ is another wonderful offering of lo-fi construction with wonderful beach boy sounding harmonies and illustrates Django Django at their very best.
The only downside to this album is that a few of the tracks are more downbeat and ploddy in places. We wonder if a few less tracks would have produced a shorter yet more powerful album. A case in point is the track. ‘Found Out’ just like the track ‘Giant’ it is a rather strange combo of 1980s synthesisers meeting strange vocals which sound a bit like a group of chanting monks in a slow paced experiment that doesn't quite deliver.
‘Pause Repeat’ gets the album back on track and you immediately start to forgive them for their experiments This track shows the Djangos' true dance side and illustrates how they can carve out a complex layered structure with tracks which are ridiculously infectious. This could yet prove to be the best track on the album. ‘Reflection’ continues the upbeat theme with a wonderful catchy number which at times makes us feel that Django Django have the perfect mix of retro 1980s pop synths whilst still managing to remain fresh and different enough for us to keep listening
However it’s not long before the experiments return. ‘Vibrations’ is different than previous outings in that is feels almost like a forgotten calypso even if it has a somewhat over use of cowbell. It remains a catchy track which in the main fits well within the context of the album.
The remainder of the album moves from experimental tracks that don’t quite deliver such as rather long drawn out moody track ‘Shot Down’ to the highly danceable ‘Breaking The Glass’ and ‘Life We Know’
All in all a wonderful. welcome return from the boys from up north which we feel will again see them rocking the Summer festivals to great acclaim. We appreciate that all bands like to experiment but feel if they cut out the fillers on this album they could achieve what the first album did. We wish them a long and fruitful career.
Born Under Saturn is available from amazon & iTunes.