Album Review: Poolside - Pacific Standard Time

Poolside
Pacific Standard Time
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Filip Nikolic and Jeffrey Paradise, the duo that make up Poolside, worked behind the scenes for others, Nikolic playing bass for the Danish duo Junior Senior and Paradise originally with the new wave band The Calculators, which split off to form The Rapture. Despite success as DJs and songwriters as well, the pair was tired of not getting the credit for their work and decided to take matters into their own hands, forming Poolside and creating their own "daytime disco" sound. Their debut full-length Pacific Standard Time is tailor made for languid days at the pool or resort, sipping cocktails, and watching all the pretty people walk by.

Here, the beats are crisp and clean, bass lines are fat and juicy, keyboards are glossy, and there is a gorgeous sheen over everything. You can tell from their times as DJs that they know how to mix a set list to perfection, moving swiftly and assuredly through the record's daunting 72 minute run time, mixing 70s disco with Balearic house, never letting up on their luxe groove. Where the band runs into trouble, however, is that while the album sounds great, it really is more about surface than anything deeper. Lyrically, the songs don't venture far from sunny beach/pool days, girl meets boy/boy meets girl, and general good life details. But the most glaring issue is that Nikolic's voice is just too thin and reedy to make much of a lasting impression over the long haul of this record. They try to make up for it by adding all sorts of filters, effects, and other foggy means to add some heft, but it just ends up reinforcing the weakness. The album would have worked much better with either some guest vocalists or at least as a more instrumental affair.

But for the most part, the vocals can be overlooked and focus can be made on the sparkling production work. "Why You Wanna" mixes glossy keyboards, louche funk bass, and a sly disco beat, keeping the vocals low in the background,



the so odd it works Balearic cover of Neil Young's "Harvest Moon" slides by on complete cheek and verve,



and the swaggering strut of "Next To You" could easily back some sun-drenched photo shoot.



When the production work threatens to get overwhelming, Poolside do throw some curveballs in the mix, from delicate ballads ("Can't Get You Out Of My Mind, "Slow Down")



to more quirky instrumentals ("Between Dreams," "Without You"),



which tends to even out the flow of the record.

For a beach/pool party soundtrack you could do worse than just slapping on Pacific Standard Time, its thick grooves and lush production lend itself well to carefree days of hot sun and cool water. It is just too bad that there is not much beneath the surface of the record to make it transcend its aural wallpaper status. With a little more focus on songcraft and working on better vocals, or at least bringing in some guest vocalists, there is a spark here that could be turned into something far more lasting.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.