S U R V I V E - RR7439

S U R V I V E
RR7439
2016
Spotify

The success of a show like "Stranger Things" and especially the music that S U R V I V E provided for it, would make any new album have quite a bit of pressure on it. Luckily the members of S U R V I V E don't really seem to notice or even give a shit about what the show was, because their music is still their music. It's off kilter, it's very unique and it is something that almost no one is doing today. They don't need to change anything, because following a trend has never been their style. It's a bit shocking to learn that this is only S U R V I V E's second releases (not including the "Stranger Things" soundtrack) because they seem so entrenched in the music, and so focused on exactly what they want to do. The bright neon day-glo that is often associated with 80s synth music is taken to such a darker more complex level in the hands of S U R V I V E and it shows that the snythpop and electropop blowing up today is not just a fad but a real hard look at the kind of music we make and what we use to make it. Unlike their other record the flow of this one feels a bit off, to long of pauses songs not really connecting with each other in that very clear path kind of way. However what the songs are is incredibly rich and so technically sound that the record cannot help but be marveled at.

Much like Expolisons in the Sky or Tycho (any ambient band for that matter) the picture you get in your head is almost as important as the music itself. Those pictures though rarely skew as dark as S U R V I V E likes to go. They push that boundary between dance, ambient and electro as far into the darkness as they possibly can. "Copter" has this very intense beat that you almost want to dance to but as the track progresses you find yourself watching your back, because something is sneaking up behind you. That anxiety is so entrenched in this very specific style of music that you find yourself on edge with very little relief for the entire record. Where S U R V I V E's instrumentation fail them however is when they try to soar or go really big. The instruments just can't keep up with where it seems the song wants to go, "Cutthroat" is a perfect example of this, and we are left with unfulfilled promises. What S U R V I V E have managed to accomplish is pull a genre from abject obscurity and find an entirely new audience for it. That alone is one of the greatest accomplishments a band can claim. Don't expect RR7439 to set the world ablaze, but don't sleep on a genre forcing it's way into the global consciousness.

7.9 out of 10