At a time when soft-pulsing nu-disco can always find a home somewhere in cyberspace, it's fairly easy to see why an outfit like the Golden Filter have been met with such fondness. After making a serious blog dent over the past year with a few well-regarded singles and remixes for Cut Copy and Peter Bjorn and John, the duo finally make the leap from web to wax with their debut full-length, Voluspa. While the singles make an impact (borderline bangers "Solid Gold" and "Thunderbird" both appear here), much of Voluspa indicates the Golden Filter sound best in smaller doses. Clearly most interested in establishing atmosphere, most of the material here is moody and fragile, a bit restrained for the dancefloor and a little too flat and repetitive to be taken anywhere else.
When Voluspa works, it is at best pleasant listening: Stephen Hindman's squelched-out synths and string injections are often both fitting and appealing, and his blasts of big tribal drums and the occasional bass hook help flesh it out. Australian vocalist Penelope Trappes' lithe, comely vocals suggest that no matter how uninformed, you too can become the Dancing Queen with a little luck. But over the span of an hour with this little variation, most of these details begin to feel like stuffing.
Wary to appear bold, the Golden Filter obviously feel most comfortable using understatement, and that's perfectly fine. But when coming off the high of something like "Solid Gold", it's hard to get into (or even sit through) the slight, underheated-M83 vibe of something like "The Underdogs". It leads you to believe that maybe their early remixes were so warmly received because the band actually had a template to work with. When left to their own devices, they have difficulty providing their songs with an actual structure, and the details lose their punch when echoed on nearly every song. Soon Trappes' vocals begin to sound snoozier, and the most appealing (or at least the most inventive) pieces of Hindman's constructions seem loosely tethered together, leaving little to sink your teeth into.
