The Onion ran a great headline last May: "Not Very Good Album Takes a Little While to Get Into". Scouring average music for hidden value used to be pretty necessary, but those days are gone. When we had to pay for physical albums, we forgave them more and were willing to work to get our money's worth. Now that people often download them for free, they expect deeper and more immediate gratification. The new currency is time, and we're stingier with it than cash.
That Onion headline is tailor-made for the second album by Swedish/American synth-pop band Thieves Like Us. I pretty much hated it at first-- it sounded monotonous and plodding, with track after track of lumbering synth-bass, slurry guitar plinks, watery synths, forgettable vocals, and utilitarian drums. Gradually, some differences and signs of life surfaced and it started to sound... okay. But when there are so many similar, better options available at your fingertips, who's got time for "okay?"
Again and Again alternates between the svelte, moody vibe of breakout single "Drugs in My Body"-- think of Thieves' namesake, New Order, without all that messy conviction-- and lugubrious dancefloor-clearers. Some of the latter type, like "Silence", are inoffensively tuneless; others ("Love Saves" and "Mercy") manage to trudge through some serviceable hooks. It's not a total washout: "Lover Lover" has a bounce in its step that's sorely missed elsewhere, and the loping high-contrast groove of "Shyness" is a welcome diversion into the Field's territory. The problem is that the songs are written to thrive in deep atmospheres, which the band's stiff and flat sound just doesn't provide.
Be warned that this is one of those records that sounds appalling on iPod earbuds. It's best on speakers, because even on decent headphones, you notice the murkiness of the FX palette more. A light but pervasive dusting of flanger effects and wavy-tuned synths makes the melodies sound cloudy and unfocused. Even the singles don't especially stand out: "Never Known Love" just sounds like froggy bass laid over a Boards of Canada track, and "Forget Me Not" sparks and sparks without ever reaching the M83-style supernova it hints at. Would one heater have gone amiss, among all these cautious lukewarmers? Thieves Like Us seem out of step with the decadence and hedonism Kitsuné Maison usually favors, often tipping over from depressive to disinterested.
