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NBHAP Rating: 3,8/5
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[one_half last=”yes”]DJANGO DJANGO
Born Under Saturn
Release-Date: 04.05.2015
Label: Because Music
Tracklist:
01. Giant
02. Shake and Tremble
03. Found You
04. First Light
05. Pause Repeat
06. Reflections
07. Vibrations
08. Shot Down
09. High Moon
10. Beginning to Fade
11. 4000 Years
12. Breaking the Glass
13. Life We Know
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Scotland, home of the weirdos
Scotland is a country with a fine tradition of abstract indie weirdos, from ORANGE JUICE to FRANZ FERDINAND. The latest band in this lineage are DJANGO DJANGO, who met at Edinburgh College of Art and started to mess around with music together. What started out as a bedroom project became, due to the music’s popularity, a band and then eventually led to a Mercury Prize nomination for their self-titled debut album. Now they’re making their return with their second album, Born Under Saturn.
Left of the mainstream
When listening to Born Under Saturn, it strikes you that DJANGO DJANGO really, really know how to do oddball dance. Giant is a blend of high-pitched chanted vocals built upon a cartoon-land musical score, and it kind of feels like wandering into a crowd of LSD-addled monks. Pause Repeat kicks into life with a siren-like squall and a rattling military drum, before sweeping forward on a punchy beat and slick, sugary melody. Vibrations’ future-jungle scat is constructed around a rumbling bassline and blooping synths, and also possesses arguably the album’s cleanest, catchiest chorus. Shot Down is the album’s moodiest track, lyrics like ‘walk out and don’t look back, there’s no love lost’ set against a darker musical backdrop. The album shows that DJANGO DJANGO shine when making off-kilter, left of centre pop. And that starts to remind you of someone.
In good company
Born Under Saturn is the kind of album that has PANDA BEAR poster on its bedroom wall that it stares at for five minutes before going to sleep every night. It applies the mad digital-psych genius formula to the construction of an indie record, sounding like an indie-dance record that’s had all its parts taken apart, dipped in acid and then shoved back together again. But if the album has a fault, it’s that the ANIMAL COLLECTIVE shadow hangs a little too heavy over it. At times, the tracks need to do a little more to distinguish themselves from Noah Lennox’s crew. But hey, sounding a little too much like ANIMAL COLLECTIVE will never be a bad thing, and Born Under Saturn isn’t a bad album for it. It’s perfect for those who like their indie unpredictable and taken down weird corners.
On Born Under Saturn, DJANGO DJANGO show off their ability to craft a weird-disco tune, but at times struggle to distinguish themselves from their illustrious inspirations.
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