Cabaret- Electric Chair Song

Too many synthpop acts try to sound like ‘80s bands. It’s understandable, of course – the 1980s were the genre’s heyday, after all – but too much intentional retro kitsch just turns a band into a novelty act. Thank god for bands like Poland’s Cabaret, whose music is unabashed electronic pop but sounds blessedly contemporary. “Electric Chair Song,” the title track to their debut single, is warm and accessible, with deep chiming synths and wispy male vocals gliding over breakbeats and crashing cymbals, while the “Electric End Of Nothing” remix strips things down to beats and moody low-end piano chords in an approach that’s no less sophisticated for its simplicity. The “220 Volts Of Electric Noise” mix isn’t particularly noisy, though it drowns the vocals in a haze of back-masking and effects, and its focus on pulsing rhythm over melody should appeal to ravers and EBM fans alike. This single’s second song, “Dawn Mist Glowing,” is as languid and romantic as its title suggests, with the instrumental “Ambient Dream” mix taking the song into still more stonily soporific depths. A cover of British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree’s “Every Home Is Wired” is pretty enough, though it seems overproduced, and “Electric End,” a more extensively reworked version of the title track, finishes things with crisply programmed drumbeats floating in a thick stew of echoing vocals and deep piano chords. A fine debut, with all the elegance of the best synthpop and none of the contrived camp of the worst.

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