Electric Guest, Mondo (Because Music) *** (From York Press)

Electric Guest, Mondo (Because Music) ***

10:52am Friday 4th May 2012 in CD reviews By Dan Bean, dan.bean@thepress.co.uk

WORKING with producer du jour Danger Mouse, Electric Guest’s debut is a predictable affair, with nothing to lift it head and shoulders above the crowd.

The LA four-piece’s style has been called “the hipster take on cheese”, and it’s easy to dismiss the majority of tracks as homage or pastiche. Opening track Awake is just about as close to a Stone Roses bass riff as you can get without a copyright infringement lawsuit, while second track The Bait veers between Tainted Love and Black And Gold, before an original chorus.

When it’s good – single This Head I Hold, Trouble Man, and the moody synth of Holes – it’s good, but it’s mainly style over substance. It might be a surprise that the band was named Artist To Watch by MTV on the strength of this unmemorable and slightly bland effort, as you’re left wondering if they can do better.