Post Industrial Boys
Unintended
Karaoke Kalk

I think this is the first time I have checked out an artist from Georgia. That's Georgia the Eurasian country on the Eastern shore of the Black Sea, mind you, not the US state. When first hearing/seeing the name Post Industrial Boys, I imagined finding some hard-core techno music. Or maybe something completely different, on the other side of the scale, being more toned down and calming. Yes, Post Industrial Boys present some quiet and soothing electro-pop of the cool and quiet kind. According to Post Industrial Boys' Facebook site, the unit was formed by 'Gogi Dzodzuashvili and seven voices, mostly female, who verbalize George's electronic pop compositions. The sound reflects the post-communist context from the urban Georgia.' Some anti Putin pop, yes? Bring it on! Even if it has been 25 years since Georgia became independent from the old Soviet Union.

Like their label for this, 'their' third album says, '...Post Industrial Boys is basically one man, George Dzodzuashvili a.k.a. Gogi. He's a musician from Tbilisi and is part of the Goslab artist collective ['a virtual collective dedicated to cultural interventions'] (Karaoke Kalk). Gogi or Post Industrial Boys (PIB) has put out two albums on Thomas Brinkmann's Max Ernst label [2004's self-titled album, plus Trauma from 2006], but Unintended is PIB's first album in 10 years. Unintended (released some months ago, back in February) holds ten songs, of which most is sung in English. The only track sung in Georgian tongue is "Naked" with lyrics/words by the Georgian author/poet Vaja-Pshavela (1861-1915) - who ranks high in Georgian literature as a writer of 'epics, poems, plays, stories, as well as literary criticism, journalism and scholarly articles of ethnographic interest' (source: Wikipedia). The songs on this album were written over the year span 2007-2013 and most lyrics was inspired by lyrics by Gogi's wife, reflecting a period (with changes) in their lives. Unintended is therefore highly personal, but the music, the songs are highly accessible as they are catchy and melodic within their whispering and hypnotic mood. The songs are at times minimalistic, monotonous and repetitive in style. To quote Karaoke Kalk, the album holds 'an intimate and reflective collection of songs produced in a unique style - part pop, part electronica.' True words, indeed.

The electro-pop songs of PIB holds acoustic guitars and plain piano in addition to the soft electronica vibe and Gogi's wry and dry voice. The aforementioned "Naked" is a collaboration with actress and singer Mzia Arabuli, who comes from a mountain region of Georgia and it's sung in the style of Georgian folk song leaning on Gogi's tender and softly tuned and rhythmed electronica, also tagged 'left-field electronic pop'. Unintended is for sure 'intended' and focused, and the album is a very pleasant listen. Among my favourite tracks are "Passenger", "Sometimes", the opening "Strange", and the closing title track. This is a perfect soundtrack for a rainy, cloudy day.

Copyright © 2016 H. Oppøyen