In Our Heads

it was ok

'Remember when we both first felt the world is sound, the world is sound?' Like much else here, that's the sort of line that weds the profound to the joyous - the vast to the satisfied - & makes a happy project like this more than happy. I've always felt that it's harder to make art that's unabashedly joyful than it is to be steeped in negativism: you have to work thru more problems. But tho this isn't The Rascals, DeBarge, or the Pet Shop Boys' Very, In Our Heads succeeds to the extent that it teaches us to be in better moods. 'Won't you come back to my heart / There's something I'm trying to say.' It also bares out mysteries in the forms of memories, introducing the listener to some sort of inner world. & yet, it's also just dance music.

the first verse of track 2 is the worst moment yet on this sometimes rotten website. can't stop listening to it.

moody pop-dance

This was a new discovery for me. I had never heard of these people. It honestly is a lovely little pop dance album. A bit of fluff that I’m not sure I’ll remember for long, but quite an enjoyable listen. Reminds me a bit of the Bee-Gees, although without the harmonizing. But the same sort of lightweight dance feel.

I actually really like the genres and styles this album is categorized under. That’s why I was curious to see what I’d hear. Maybe there’s a reason I’ve never heard of this band before. I found the whole thing pretty boring, though. I probably won’t actively listen to it again. 3/5

Better than conldplay

3.75 Great for running and completing tasks

A begrudging 4 - I really liked some songs! Generally not well-made as an album, however.

The Good: We get hot chips with dip… we hope!
The Bad: The chips are bland…
The Ugly: The mold on the dip…

Never heard of this band before, probably because I am no big fan of EDM and when this album came out I was more busy with other things…

Reading the commentaries, I have to agree that this album might have made a little more impact had it been released 30 years sooner… hence the mold on the dip… what? I have to explain my stupid humor now too?

Anyway, never going to listen to this again, though I did have to play the first two songs again to see if, maybe, I was going to change my mind as to what score I would give this album…

2* for not sucking massively

Opener was a really great song that I thought would set the tone. It's clear that these guys don't do ballads really well. The lyrics were kind of distractingly bad, as well. The entire thing is pretty generic following that opener, too. I didn't hate what I was listening to but was very unimpressed.

I’m higher than a 5, but I don’t think I’m QUITE at a 10. I’m shockingly close though.

I had a feeling this would be a little more unique than “synthpop” of the early 2010s would describe, but I wasn’t expecting to feel that enthralled by all of the tracks here. This is masterfully done stuff, updating the production styles of the 1980s with more modernized synths, blending them with a touch of William Orbit-esque electronica, & coating them in a similar sort of paint as MGMT. All together, it creates an eclectic type of indie rock that I’ve never really heard come out of this era, & while some may dismiss it as overly derivative, I think it’s just catchy as a motherfucker, man. I dreaded this album’s length going into it, but the way each soundscape builds up & naturally progresses over time makes these tracks fly by far quicker than expected, making the 57 minute runtime here feel half as long.

A lot of that comes down to two things: really strong instrumentation (duh), & a really good vocal performance, complimented by some well-written lyrics across the board here. These aren’t flowery, thankfully; they’re just there to capture the mood, with some occasionally really strong lines that just sell the track as fruitfully as possible. “Ends of the Earth”, for example, has the line “I just want you to feel the belief of a man”, and that struck me REALLY nicely. Not the touch, not the love, not anything else – just the BELIEF alone should be enough of a plea to bring back this relationship, and it sells the slightly somber & desperate tone of the track just as much as the synths do. This album is scattered with lines like that, but this album works just as well if you don’t catch a single one of them, mostly because the instrumentals are THAT damn good.

Granted, I wouldn’t say this album has one specific super standout track (though “Don’t Deny Your Heart” comes damn close), & I do think that lack of a really timeless track that stands on its own merits, without feeling like a throwback, is what’s keeping me from going at a full blown 10 here. It makes up for that by being at a really consistently high bar of quality, and one that it never goes lower than an inch from. Believe me, this is a great album. I think it’s the only album where comparisons to Portal 2, Fatboy Slim, William Orbit, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Gloria Estefan, the Pet Shop Boys, Justin Timberlake, Prince, Capital Cities, the Beatles, Porter Robinson, Lionel Richie, Hall & Oates, the Police & Steely Dan are somehow all warranted at the same time.

Yes, I did somehow write down references to all of those artists while listening, which isn’t really doing wonders for the whole “derivative” thing, but I think it says something that they were able to capture all of those vibes at points throughout the album. It’s got great variety behind it, and that variety keeps the album a lot fresher than it has any right to be. I think it’s wonderfully produced, composed & performed. I’m really glad it’s on the list, because I don’t think I would’ve ever found it otherwise. It’s certainly higher than a 5, and hell, maybe one day, one of these tracks will feel “timeless” enough to me to bump it up to a 10. I really, really enjoyed this one.

Luisterbare popliedjes in een Britse indie-elektronica jas. Niet heel exciting, maar ook zeker niet slecht. Betere vocals hadden misschien wel geholpen.

Edit: dit duurt echt een kwartier langer dan het had moeten duren. En dan zijn er ook nog dotan-achtige gang vocals achterop de plaat. -1

How Do You Do and Flutes were both excellent songs, the album had a good cohesive sound too. I would put it under electronic music.

This has a few very good tracks but A LOT of filler. In particular, the slower songs really drag and add nothing to the album. Somewhere in here there's a snappy, upbeat 35 minute indie/electronica album, but unfortunately the bloat was not cut out.

2.0/5.0: Disappointing

i actually found this pretty engaging overall. there is some filler but this is one of the better electronica albums ive heard.

Extremely average.

Herranjestas olipa lapanen levy. vähän niinku tylsä pet shop boys. 1/5

I most recently listened to this a week and a half ago for funsies, what kind of star rating do you expect from me? I am heckin' biased, friends!

I do enjoy Hot chop but this isn’t my favourite album of theirs