Vulnerabilia

Chronique

On their full-length debut, Vulnerabilia, My Computer take a bold, fearless approach to pop music -- they don't really write songs, per se, so much as they craft epic treatises incorporating bits of electronica, Madchester, Brit-pop, space rock, folk, prog rock, and urban music. Even at a time when postmodern sonic magpies such as Primal Scream, Beck, Cornelius, and the Avalanches are more abundant and successful than ever, My Computer's ambition is remarkable; they seamlessly weave pop and rock elements into an electronic foundation, creating shifting, sweeping songs that rarely clock in at less than six or seven minutes apiece. The kaleidoscopic opener, "All I Ever Really Wanted Was a Good Time," sounds a little bit like Super Furry Animals in one of their more electronic moments, but it's messier and more experimental, alternating blasting organs, guitars, and vocoders with brooding, acoustic sections; though it's well over nine minutes long, the song feels much shorter since it's so mercurial. The rest of Vulnerabilia finds the band splicing and recombining whatever sounds and styles they see fit into various hybrids, including looping, hypnotic dance/prog of "Rope," on which the singer's voice recalls Sice of the Boo Radleys, another band that has clearly influenced My Computer's trippy, ambitious sound. That's not to say that the band or the album is derivative, though. Since all the ballads have dance breaks and all the dance songs have gentle interludes -- as epitomized by "Vulnerabilia"'s bittersweet clubbiness -- it's clear that My Computer have mixed and matched so many influences and ideas that their style is ultimately and entirely their own. While the group's ability to blend and bend different styles to their whims is impressive, the genuine emotion My Computer infuses Vulnerabilia with is even more so. Along with the title track, the spooky-yet-uplifting "No More Dealing" and the moody penultimate track "I Don't Care How You Treat Me" display a surprising amount, and range, of feelings. In fact, there's so much intensity and diversity on virtually every level of the album that Vulnerabilia's shortcomings tend to stand out more than they might on a less unique album. Several of the album's tracks are nearly sabotaged by vague, dopey lyrics such as "More to Life"'s "There's time for this/And there's time for that"; the occasional Jeff Buckley-esque vocal histrionics also make for a few awkward moments. Mostly, though, Vulnerabilia falls short when My Computer's ambition becomes too great. Even their simplest songs have dense, lush arrangements that, over the course of the hour-long album, are almost exhausting to the ears. One could also argue that the group's constant shape-shifting is just a clever way to disguise their inability to write a structured song. Occasionally, the changes do seem a bit contrived, as when "For Somebody Else" morphs from a strummy ballad into speedy, noisy house. Still, it's refreshing to hear an album where the main drawback is an overflow of musical ideas instead of a drought. Vulnerabilia is a very impressive, demanding debut that puts My Computer in the enviable position of merely having to refine their originality on their next album instead of needing to develop it in the first place.

© Heather Phares /TiVo