Again

Album Review

Colder's debut album for Trevor Jackson's Output label amounts to little more than the sum of its inspirations and coy references. As with a number of artists affiliated with Jackson, Colder's sound is rooted in the post-punk and post-disco of the late '70s and early '80s, along with splashes of what helped shape those eras, including Krautrock and dub. Again will wage instant war on the ears of those who must hear something new or unique in every record, but those who only care about whether or not the music's any good are bound to find at least a couple pleasing moments. Opener "Crazy Love" is pure Krautrock-driven Joy Division — the hushed hypnosis of "Heart and Soul" and the slightly agitated twitch of "She's Lost Control" are almost obscenely obvious drawing points — with vocals placed on the Damo Suzuki setting. The following "Confusion" is a definite standout, a tightly wound neo-electro track that seems inert and dancefloor-oriented at the same time — like an introverted Juan Maclean. Along the remainder of the way, Marc Nguyen (the figure behind Colder) tries his hand at On-U Sound dub, weary glitch-pop, and even some sort of cross between Can's "Mother Sky" and the Art of Noise. It'd be unfair to dismiss the record on the basis of its unoriginality — after all, you can't count the number of exceptional groups that released a derivative debut on two hands. Even so, hopefully Nguyen will one day break free from adapting sounds and come up with some of his own.