Good things come to those who wait. Whoever came up with that clich? must have listened to the album, The Noise People Make (Tommy Boy) by the British band Broadcast. It has taken more than three years for the band’s debut to finally come out, but it was well worth the wait.
In 1996, Broadcast started to release singles on the influential British electronic label Warp. The band achieved critical acclaim, and the songs were gathered on the compilation album, Work and Non-Work. In 1997, the band started work on this album, but, for reasons that included a host of producers coming and going, the band could not finish it until now.
Usually when a band has such perfectionist impulses, it generally falls apart over the struggle. Case in point – the Brit-pop band the La’s, who had a big hit with There She Goes. But, the group could never follow up its debut album because of its singer’s demanding perfectionism. Rumor has it that he’s still working on the follow-up eight years later. Broadcast, however, won the battle, and it was well worth it. The album contains some of the most interesting, beautiful, haunting and unsettling music that you have heard in a long time.
If you had to compare Broadcast to another band, its closest clone is Stereolab. Both bands use old synthesizers and electronics and have a female singer that provides cool, disinterested vocals. But, that is where the similarities end. Stereolab makes cool lounge music that tries to evoke the swinging 1960s. Broadcast, on the other hand, is darker, creepier and more designed to send shivers down your spine than to make you go-go.
The album opens with Long Was the Year. A pounding drumbeat anchors the waves of synthesizers that almost create a wall of sound. A cold, child-like female voice sings-speaks over the sound. The effect is hypnotic and very unsettling. You get the feeling you’re being followed.
The band keeps up this atmosphere with other songs. Unchanging Window is like a melancholy Stereolab – a perfect rainy day song. Minus One sounds like the soundtrack to a 1960s sci-fi movie. It is the song for when the aliens come out of the spaceship.
While all the songs have the same basic structure and sound, Broadcast is able to keep them from all flowing into each other thanks to subtle differences on each song. There are enough hooks to keep your attention. Come On Let’s Go, is like a 1960s dance tune. You can see the lava lamps flowing in the background. Papercuts has a circus feel to it. The song is very whimsical but also unsettling, like a clown jumping out at you from behind a curtain.
And that’s the best part about Broadcast. It’s what makes the band stand out from other groups. Yes, Broadcast uses the same styles and sounds as other groups, but it’s its willingness to take those sounds and twist them that makes this album so good. You can put it on while you study or work, but every now and then you’ll get a shiver down your spine – that’s the mark of greatness.
