Another release from 2419 and I find myself taking off an imaginary hat to the canny Dutchman for his ability to throw a curveball. I don’t know what a curveball is but following up reviews for free jazz, indie blues rock and electronica (all on 2419) I never expected lascivious, drunken Euro-pop. But I’m starting to get the point now, which is that 2419 can do what they damn well please, and that’s definitely a good thing.
Anyway, NODe (Not Ordinary Dead) sound like the kind of Euro popstars you don’t want anywhere near your girlfriend (or boyfriend). They sound like they spend a lot of time in nightclubs. They also sound like they spend a lot of time wearing sunglasses, smoking and being generally way cooler than you. Yes, I condone smoking.
They walk a fine line between Electro-clash, 90’s dance music and plain old Pop music and every song on the album is a winner. It’s impossible to avoid the European-ness of this album and I can’t help but think it sounds like Falco but beamed forward to now. The artist it reminds me of the most however is a guy from France called 835. I played some of his stuff on the podcast a while ago and he had an excellent EP called “I’m A Genius” which is virtually identical in sound and structure and vocal, so much so that I did some research into whether or not this was him. Apparently not as these are some dudes from Italy, but the fact that two different acts can sound so similar coincidentally is fascinating.
So I would recommend downloading this (and the 835 EP), then getting very drunk and singing along in your least politically correct but most hilarious French / Italian / Anglo accent.
Kim Monaghan
