Usually when experienced musicians get together to start a new group, traces of their past work can't help but creep back into their songs. But that's not the case with Tanlines, the duo of Jesse Cohen and Eric Emm, who arrive at their new project with pretty diverse backgrounds. Cohen comes from the dance-y post-punk act Professor Murder while Emm spent time in dissonant math-rock bands Don Caballero and Storm & Stress, and interestingly Tanlines don't really sound like any of those groups. What they make now is tropical synth-pop that's more indebted to the Tough Alliance and, to some degree, MPP-era Animal Collective.
Tanlines are more production team than proper band and, not unlike Barcelona electro-poppers Delorean, their style is inspired as much by club music as indie rock. Straddling the line between dance and pop but hewing more towards the latter, Tanlines put together African percussion, swirling guitars, and dancefloor elements inside catchy, effervescent tracks. Their Settings EP comes on the heels of some early singles and remixes for groups such as Telepathe and finds the duo honing in on a fuller, more developed sound.
The record is split evenly between instrumental cuts and vocal tracks, and Tanlines do well with both. The appeal of these songs is primarily sonic (rich, surging arrangements and big clean hooks), so they don't all need words, but when Cohen and Emm do weave in lyrical content, it adds intrigue. The best example is standout "Real Life", where Emm gets wistful over knocking percussion and heaving, squeaky synths. "You might think I'm still that way, it's only natural/ It was a past-life thing, it wasn't anything at all," he laments. If you've ever bumped into an ex who dumped you for doing something stupid, you know exactly what he's talking about.
Tanlines have a strong pop sensibility and a good working knowledge of global club sounds, and it's this balance that makes Settings an enjoyable listen. They're said to have an affinity for Depeche Mode (not so subtly hinted at here on "Policy of Trust"), and while that may seem strange with music this sunny, you can hear pretty clearly in Tanlines' tracks their appreciation for hook-heavy dance-pop of all kinds. Not everything on the EP works as well as "Real Life" (they lose me a bit on the calypso and hip-hop informed "Bees"), but mostly Settings functions as a punchy introduction to what these guys do well.
