Femme Fatality
Never Had a Daddy
Collective Records
Hmm…
As much as we love, adore and worship the current resurrection of electronic dance music (despite the fact most people making it wear ironic smirks, meant to say, "Hey, we're not
too
into this!" even though they were too young to even have been around for the music they're lifting from), we are aware sometimes it can go awry. Such is the case with Femme Fatality's
Never Had a Daddy
. We cracked open
Never
's CD case with hope, despite the band's lame pun of a name, hoping the promise of indie, Joy Division-esque, poppy dance music inside would hold up. Sadly, it doesn't.
Never
starts off with such promise with "Octavia's Love Song," its beat and synth lines full of disco enthusiasm and Nena funkiness. But then as soon as the melody is sung, the fun's over, even though it's clear Hepaestion and Monanani Palermo-who comprise Femme Fatality-are working the electro-cheerleader aesthetic pretty hard.
In fact, it's the melodies and vocals of the entire disc that work to kill the energy and potential dance fun of the whole CD. Every time a promising bit of electronica raises our hopes, they're soon dashed by boring, Bauhaus-lite vocals.
But…it's easy to wonder if the situation is salvageable. It's possible what doesn't translate on disc might just work in a live setting. Our guess is, Femme's undoubtable energy coupled with cranked-up synthesizers and a charged crowd might do wonders for the band's oeuvre. Moreover, since they're playing this week with some of Santa Fe's best electronica artists-including the crafty, thoughtful Brian Botkiller and Keyboard (recently signed to Asian Man Records)-as well as the excellently strange Peachcake, Tuesday's show is still not to be missed.
Femme Fatality, Peachcake, Brian Botkiller, Knife the Hero and Keyboard play at 6 pm Tuesday, April 18 at Warehouse 21 (1614 Paseo de Peralta). Cover is $5.
