Friday, September 28, 2012

Album Review - Dragonette "Bodyparts"

I think I've already said about one hundred times that I find Dragonette to be one of the best groups of all time. They have never once disappointed me since their incarnation, and I don't see them doing to any time soon. Thus, I am confident I am about to embark on one of the best albums of the year. Behold: Dragonette's newest album "Bodyparts".


The album opens up with the overly 80's sounding track "Run Run Run" which sounds like it was more like a song written for The Sounds than for Dragonette. It may not have been the strongest track to start out with, but it is by no means a bad song. The song is more the type of track that will have to grow on a person to really get some love and attention.

The next two tracks on the album are the singles that had been released previously. "Live In This City" is obviously the more polished of the two, and is now my personal theme song. Both this song and the first single "let It Go" have both been chosen as songs of the week, proving that I am either a huge fanboy of the group (true) or they really are a talented and unquite band (also true).

Another pre-release track was "Rocket Ship". I am honestly surprised to see this on the album, as it sounds a lot less well done than the rest of the album. The song was presented as a track for the fans who were waiting patiently, so I took it to be an extra, not an actual album track. It is much more simplistic than the rest of the album, much more reminiscent of the group's first album. It's lyrics are kind of cute, though, using a rocket ship as a metaphor instead of Cupid's arrow.

I really like the new feeling of "My Legs", which presents a darker sounding track than the more mellow songs that I've heard from Dragonette before. The song is about a compulsion to party that is uncontrollable with her body doing going out and dancing on autopilot whether her brain wants it to or not. The heavy synths really cast a darker tone onto the work as a whole, bringing thoughts of Halloween, or even of classic tracks such as MJ's "Thriller".

"Bodyparts" is actually filled with great songs. From "Riot" to "Giddy Up" to the slow outro track "Ghost", this album is nearly perfect. Dragonette has been at the game for a while, and they know exactly what they want to accomplish. It may not be for everyone, but it's grip it has on taking 80s ideas and sounds and making them not only sound great, but making them relevant again gives one enough of a reason to check them out.

Do I think this is the album of the year, in all honesty? I can't say. There has been a lot of great music come out so far, and we haven't a clue what's still in store for the final months of 2012. Is it at the top of my list? Hell yes it is. "Bodyparts" is one of the few albums this year that has lived up to the hype around it. They knew they had something good, so they didn't even need to bluff. Dragonette is simply a quality group.

You can preview the album for yourself to get your own opinion. Like it? Then buy it, obviously.

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