Album Review: The Presets - Pacifica

The Presets
Pacifica
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Aussie electro-pop duo The Presets have a very distinctive sound that you are either predisposed to love or hate. There is something about Julian Hamilton's deep, booming vocals and Kim Moyes' dark, electro beats and riffs that can effectively polarize any audience. For me, I am one of the few people who are on the fence with them. When they are on, as on Apocalypso's "If I Know You" and "This Boy's In Love," they are pretty much pop perfection, but too often they take things in a more chanty/robotic direction and verge on annoying. So far, their first two studio albums haven't been able to find the right mix of tracks and have been wildly uneven. Third record Pacifica seems to be their attempt again to bridge the gap again between more overtly pop numbers and their more experimental tendencies. While there are still some odd lyrical tendencies and vocal deliveries, this record is by far The Preset's most consistent release.

When they stick to their strengths, the tracks on the album are catchy and fun blasts of electro-rock. Lead track and single "Youth In Trouble" is 6 minutes of Nitzer Ebb synth pulse ecstasy,



"Promises" could easily fit on any Erasure album, a gorgeous bit of melodic synth-pop, "Fall" pushes trance synths higher and higher, and the elegant throb of "Surrender" easily overcomes some bizarre lyrics.

And even when they do try and stretch their sound higher, it can lead to some interesting avenues. "Ghosts" is probably their best song ever, a light base of rising keyboards balances Hamilton's sea-shanty singing, before taking off into a swirling mass of echoed synths, skittering percussion, and choruses of chanted voices.



But too often it leads to some misguided messes. "Push" features one of Hamilton's annoying clipped and choppy vocal turns that, against a clanging mix of pots and pans percussion, deep bass lines, and shrieking synths, becomes aggressively unappealing. And the puzzling "A.O." almost defies description. Odd vocal effects, chanted vocals, yelps, yells, and surreal instrumentation are replaced by sections of gorgeous piano work and melodic vocals. The two parts of the track, which interplay off one another, have no real connection to each other and the tension between the two is more irritating than interesting.

Thankfully, The Presets don't go off the map too much on Pacifica. They swiftly return to more accessible tracks, like gorgeous closing ballad "Fail Epic" and subtle, haunting "It's Cool" which recalls the icy gorgeousness of "If I Know You."



Pacifica is not going to change anyone's mind about whether they like The Presets or not. If you like them, you will like most of this album. If you dislike them, it won't make you like them anymore. I'm still on the fence with them, because when they get it right, which is more often than not, they make some pretty killer, catchy electro-pop. But when they head in other directions and discount their strengths, they just make me shake my head.

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.