Pretty Monster
The Age
Friday January 30, 2004
CD review: Pretty Monster, Fort Lauderdale (Memphis Industries/Inertia) ***
For recent electro acts, ``going rock'n'roll" has often meant little more than a studded wristband or the right ``ironic" haircut. But downtempo English dudes Fort Lauderdale have handled the transition pretty well. Their 2001 debut, Time Is of the Essence, introduced them as some sort of pastoral, quintessentially English take on the prog-rockish synth-symphonies of Air, albeit with more of a predilection for the wide-eyed folk-psych of Syd Barrett. Acoustic guitars aside, though, the album was electronic at its core, whereas with this follow-up, they've essentially remade themselves as some sort of studio-based '70s-rock-styled project. The missing link between the two was the solo record by the duo's the Squire of Somerton (aka Toby Jenkins), which - under the influence of early T-Rex, seemingly - featured florid psychedelic flourishes and hot guitar solos. With Jenkins having made a record free of familiar electronic tones, Fort Lauderdale now know they can do without beats and bleeps, and on Pretty Monster build tracks out of bass, drums, guitars and organs, almost always with the exuberant pair crooning atop it all. -- Anthony Carew
© 2004 The Age