18. Zoot Woman – Star Climbing
It’s hard not to see Zoot Woman’s new album ‘Star Climbing‘ as self-indulgent retroism, riffing of the League and Mode, with the plastic-y synth-pop of the 80s. But if you dig a little deeper there’s so much more to ‘Star Climbing‘ than cheesy neon riffs as messers Blake, Blake and Price have years of experience under their belt and a degree of freedom that’s often not afforded to your average British band.
Highlights come thick and fast with the rubbery tech-funk of ‘Rock & Roll Symphony‘, which sees Blake vocoded up to give the song a futuristic feeling, it probably wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it even sounds like the output a couple of Parisian robots, which is never a bad thing. The closest track for our money that sounds like a Paper Faces track is ‘Chemistry‘; a cacophony of pitched, looping vocals set against Blake’s ethereal range – it’s easily one the album’s best highlights, and easily on par with anything they’ve done before.
‘Star Climbing’s‘ biggest success is it manages to hold your attention from start to finish, and that’s no mean feat; 80s facing indie synth-pop has to be multi-layered with plenty of depth to be considered really interesting in 2014 – and that’s exactly was the Price and the Blake brothers have done; from heartfelt slow burners like ‘Elusive‘ and pulsating club bangers like ‘Lifeline‘, there’s bound to be at least 5-6 tracks, if not more, that will tickle your 80s fancy.
Written by Andrew Rafter
