46bliss
Pistachio Home
The Regular Recording Company

It seems like the end of the 90s brought up an Early-80s eletro-synth-pop revival. New York trio 46bliss - singer Clare Veniot, vocalist/keyboardist/programmer David Cooper, and Jack Freudheim on electronic drums, programming and software - makes people again drool about bands like Depeche Mode, OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - or, he-he, was it manure...), and Blancmange. Well, back in those days I was more into the goth-depp of Bauhaus, Siouxsie ad the Banshees, and The Cure, but that's another story (which I almost have forgotten...).

46bliss has gained a lot of positive feedback on their debut album Pistachio Home, which sounds very professional, and indeed danceable if you're in the mood for this type of music. In fact 46bliss sounds like the synth-pop version of mid-80's folk-rock trio The Washington Squares (who sort of was meant like an ode to the 60's folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary). However I find 46bliss a bit too slick sounding, and I really don't like their version of the Beatles' Across The Universe. That said, there are some likable songs on their album, which consist of 15 tracks altogether. There's also another cover version included, Lay Down (Candles in The Rain) (with an arrangement sounding a bit Peter Gabriel-ish) by Melanie Safka. There are also put in some short intemissional tracks in-between the regular songs, Troubador, Bardo Takes Time and Alpha & Omega, being small cryptically breaks in the electro-flow.

So, call me old-fashioned, but I guess I miss guitars. Well, of course there are some guitars and bass-guitars among the additional musician credits. But, as I said earlier, I find the album a bit too slick. To mention a few tracks, the rhythmical Wildfire, the pop-catchy Anything (a bit like James, of the Manchester wave, maybe?), and the ethno-pop-song Cura Animarum. And I guess Boy Behind the Veil has a certain hit potentiality. Anyway, pistachio has never been among my fave flavors.

Copyright © 2000 Håvard Oppøyen