Cardiknox - Portrait

Cardiknox
Portrait
2016
Spotify

The debut record from Cardiknox is absolutely infectious in it's catchiness. In another life Portrait would be a sugary sweet pop record but taking the electropop route has allowed the band to still maintain just the right amount of edge. The one thing you get the most when you listen to this record is this is a band that really wants you to have fun. There is almost no pretension with the music they are making. They know it is light and approachable and more than anything just want you to enjoy it just as much as they do. Much of the album focuses on creating a repetitive rhythm that builds into a knock down drag out party chorus. Even on songs that are slightly slower like "What Do I Do Now" they still keep the energy high and that beat thumping away in the background. The album also has a very interesting balance between chaos and perfection. There is much of the record that is very classical in nature, very dialed in very tight but then there are moments where Cardiknox embrace the moment and lets those restraints loose. "Perfect Storm" feels this way with its slow burn into an eventual big finish.

There are times however when Cardiknox's style does start to betray them a bit. Many of the lyrics on the record seem to be just typical filler more than anything else. Lots of talk about love, taking the night ect. ect. that are just middle of the road typical. However with music that sounds like this putting some kind of deep philosophical treatise on top of it just would not fit. Portrait also has a very thin quality to it. You are waiting for something deep in the low end to really round out the sound, but it just never comes. This is a problem that many electropop bands seem to suffer from and just adding that little bit more would really improve things. It is the songs like "Shadowboxing" that are radio ready anthems that really show you both what the band can do and what a really great pop song should sound like. Listening to Cardiknox evokes what was the best about 80s synthpop both in the romantic spins to the exuberant dance tracks. This is a band that is only at the beginning of what has the potential to be something really big. Get on board now or this train may pass you by.

7.6 out of 10