This week I listened to Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark. For simplicity's sake I will refer to them as OMD. I first became aware of the group after watching a video about the synthesizers used on their hit single "Enola Gay" which is not on this album. I thought it was a great song as I have said before I am a closeted synth pop fan. So here I am listening to their debut album, which certainly smells of Kraftwerk. When looking into it the band notes them as their big influence, and I hear it on a number of tracks. The songs, "Bunker Soldiers", "Mystereality", "Messages", and somewhat "Red Frame/White Light" sound a lot like Kraftwerk with a bit more of a pop-sensibility in their melodies. This popiness is what sets them apart from Kraftwerk and similar groups, as Kraftwerk's whole aesthetic was very robotic. There are a song that I could tell without even looking it up was the single, that being "Electricity". It has way more energy and melodicism to it in comparison to the rest of the album, which makes it almost feel out of place. Not to say it is a bad song but it feels like it should be on a different album. There isn't much to say about the synth sounds on the album, they are good but due to the band's limited gear many of the songs feature the same sounds. This is something that you feel on the entirety of the album, this sort of DIY "made in my basement" type feel. It isn't a bad thing, but I think for synth music like this there needs to be a bit more cleanliness to it, which is why Kraftwerk and similar bands work so well. Nontheless, OMD's debut is a good album and it makes me want to listen to their other albums where their sound is developed further. 7/10 album
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