After listening to the first few tracks on Innerpartysystem’s self-titled debut album (released on Island Records) I was all set to give them a bad review. I had it all planned out in my head: they were just another crappy club band with boring beats that sounded kind of cool after you popped some E. But somewhere around the seventh track, Empty Love, I really started to listen closely, and I realized that there was actually a lot of good going on here.
Most of the songs on Innerpartsystem are constructed with jumpy club beats under layer upon layer of dark electro-melodies, electro-bass lines, electro-synths: electro everything. This can be a little overwhelming at first, but after your ears become accustomed to the complicated instrumentation, the intricacies can make for quite a pleasant and stimulating listen.
The vocals on Innerpartysystem sound a whole lot like Dave Gahan from Depeche Mode. They have that same dark, futuristic, bare tone. When put together with the instrumentation that sounds like a slightly less industrial Nine Inch Nails, I’m sure that Innerpartysystem will provide electrorgasms for the right people.
Innerpartysystem’s aural success makes sense, as they brought in a set of a-list producers to help with this album. The producers that worked on this album had also worked with Bjork, Arcade Fire, Nine Inch Nails, Peter Yorn, Smashing Pumpkins, and so on and so on. Innerpartysystem were able to find such good help after a song from their self-recorded set of demo’s, The Download LP, was used by a few popular EA video games.
I have two beefs with Innerpartysystem. One is that it looks back more than it looks forward in terms of its sound and song structure. Although this is excusable because the sound they achieve is pretty cool, I look forward to hearing more daring songs on their next album. I think they’re up to the challenge of making a new, unique path in electro-rock.
My other beef is that a few tracks (What We Will Never Nnow and Soundscape) sound like they were just thrown on the album at the last second. They lack all the positive aspects of the rest of the album.
Overall, I give this album 3 ¾ stars out of 5. It’s a solid effort in electro-rock that makes for a danceable and aurally stimulating listen. A few of the songs are duds, and the style is a bit back-looking, but this is Innerpartysystem’s first attempt at a full album, and I see them growing from here.