The atomic age now seems retrograde and kitsch, as does much of The Phone’s sound. But it is this backwards look that gives the album substance. Some of the pieces lack substance, but overall the result of this fission obsessed record is some top grade synth pop.
Minimal Synth is a genre speckled with different labels. Some imprints shine brighter than others, gaining acclaim in magazines, infamy amongst DJ’s and pride of place in record stores. A label that has put out some superb releases whilst languishing in the shadows is Attractive! Steve Lippert’s label has focussed on 7”s to date but now the UK imprint is moving to the fuller format. Lippert releases his first album under his moniker The Phone. Welcome to Songs For This Nuclear Age.
The atomic motif is present from the get-go. “Inner Refuge” samples the UK Government’s nuclear safety message from the late 70s, twisting analogue chords between the well spoken instructions. The plinky plonks of “TV Set” follows with heavy vocoder vocals. The Phone utilizes vocoders across the record, distorting lyrics on the likes of “Nuclear Winter.” A pop presence runs through the LP, English accented pieces like “Jonni” having an Indie innocence. “The Phone Version 2” reworks a previous track and is a rich analogue piece. The album takes pseudo futuristic concepts as subject matter, “Pylon to Pylon” or “We Are Neutrons” being emblematic of this. Memories from previous 7”s, like “Cabaret Noir” and “Discreet Affair,” feature. The album ends as it began, with the clipped instructions sugar coated by friendly synthesizers.
I read an article not so long ago in the Financial Times about Kraftwerk and the coming of the age they predicted. Now that the Computer Age has come, the FT journalist pondered, what place in it did the plastic fantastic notions of the Dusseldorfers? Songs For This Nuclear Age has something of the same quality. The atomic age now seems retrograde and kitsch, as does much of The Phone’s sound. But it is this backwards look that gives the album substance. Some of the pieces lack substance, but overall the result of this fission obsessed record is some top grade synth pop.
Songs For This Nuclear Age is available on Attractive!
