2008 was something of a watershed year for digitally augmented indie pop, with releases like Hot Chip's Made in the Dark, M83's Saturdays=Youth, and Cut Copy's In Ghost Colours all highlighting strains of a beatific, open-armed sound that would very soon become practically inescapable within those bands' respective spheres. 2008 also saw the release of V, the debut album from Australian electro-rockers Van She. Though still very much electronically inclined, V sounded more rooted in modern rock radio looks, having more in common with, say, Muse than the hip-- and hip-guided-- music their perceived peers were churning out at the time. Said peers all moved on to bigger and even more ambitious things in the time since, leaving the almost completely inactive Van She behind in the meantime. Now four years later, the band returns to play catch-up with its sophomore effort, Idea of Happiness, which does away with the "rock" half of the "electro-rock" equation in favor of a dance-friendly sound made for island-hopping.
By all accounts, Idea of Happiness sounds like a record that should have come out four years ago. Overwhelmed with tropically inclined rhythms, starburst crescendos, and synths so upfront and sparkly that they feel in need of individual backup generators, Idea of Happiness certainly sounds like someone's idea of bliss, wafting from a disco ball-equipped cabana. Not to mention the fact that the band has enlisted Tony Hoffer to mix the record-- his list of clients includes the likes of M83 and Phoenix-- which further alludes to Van She's interest in pairing the right amount of bubblegum with slinky new wave. But unlike any of the aforementioned bands, Van She are clumsier around hooks than anything so groove-enabled has any right being. The result is the work of a decidedly B-team kind of band, that at their best can foster good vibes and the occasional moment of melancholic introspection, but more consistently feel like an off-brand amalgamation of fellow artists they've clearly studied and tried to mirror in a casually enjoyable, but ultimately disposable, fashion.
Which is to say that there isn't a lot that you're going to want take away with you after these 40 minutes are through. Still, there is something to be said for its ability to hold your attention while it's on, though perhaps not independently of whether or not you happen to be on a cool boat at the time. Guitars, synths, and beats all sound crisp and glisten with a layer of cold condensation, but they come together in ways that don't necessarily make for memorable pop tunes. Choruses are clunky ("I feel calypso!", "Jamaica! The lights are off/ You will be dancing strong, you know it!"), and too often do faint whiffs of fromage tend to overpower these tracks, depending how far downwind from them you are. "Sarah" plays like something from Foreigner: Live in Ibiza, while the Cut Copy-cribbing "Tears" is skin-crawlingly uncool-uncle funky. Still, they're somehow preferable to plainly forgettable tracks like "Beat of the Drum" and the title track, that unfortunately serves as both the album leadoff and first single.
Though there is isn't anything being offered here that you haven't heard before, small divergences prove somewhat fruitful. "You're My Rescue" is what might happen if the Duran Duran guys tried their hand at yacht rock instead of merely quaffing champagne on the deck of one, and "Radio Waves II" (following up a weirdly proggy "Radio Waves I") has a kind of casualness to it that reads as attractively coy, especially in the face of tracks that often come on too strong. It's moments like these where you can't help but admire Idea of Happiness to a degree, but it also doesn't mean it's a record you're going to be taking along with you to your next intimate beachside barbecue, no matter how loudly it asks you to.
