Operators - Blue Wave
Released on April 1 via Last Gang Records
If the prospect of a Wolf Parade dance album excites you,
then boy have I got some news. Operators is the new outfit from Dan Boeckner, best
known as one half of the dynamic lead vocals from Wolf Parade, a band that itself
just ended a lengthy hiatus. While the group’s other singer, Spencer Krug, has
been moonlighting as Moonface, releasing critically acclaimed but, to my ears,
underwhelming piano ballads, Boeckner has popped up in a few fairly
high-profile gigs, including Divine Fits (with members of Spoon) and the
Handsome Furs. None of these groups have sounded like his new gig, Operators,
who’s debut album, Blue Wave, mashes up Wolf Parade’s herky-jerky guitar riffs
with honest-to-goodness synth-pop for a collection of propulsive dance songs
that are hard-wired to get you moving.
Boeckner’s wail might seem a strange bed partner with the
polished sound of a synthesizer, but while the electronics often wrap the songs
on Blue Wave in, well, a wave of sound, the proceedings never sound artificial.
Instead, his voice compliments and augments the more organic sounds brimming in
the background; the ragged guitar, pounding drums and occasional appearance of
saxophone are constantly fighting for attention over the thick and colorful
synth, giving the songs a manic quality that will befit your instinct to dance.
The early one-two punch of “Control” and “Cold Light,” two album highlights, go
even further into the dance-pop sound, with the former building itself on top
of a straight-up club beat, and the latter mining the type of warble-y,
nostalgia-meets-night-out sound that would feel right at home in a John Hughes
movie.
The two best songs on the album, though, find the perfect
balance between organic and inorganic; “Blue Wave” jumps from E-Street Band to
New Order as if it were a natural arrangement, and even throws in an explosive
sax solo and Apologies to the Queen Mary-style
freak out at the end, while “Bring Me the Head” layers distorted synths and
throbbing drums that build on themselves like a disco Jenga ready to topple. In
fact, the weakest tracks on the album are those that hew closest to something
Wolf Parade would put out. Opener “Rome” and penultimate track “Evil” aren’t
bad songs by any means, but their more classic guitar-heavy sound comes across
a bit muddy and thin when sitting next to the lush, modern sounds on the rest
of the album.
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