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Album Details

• Artist: Supersystem
• Album: A Million Microphones
• Label: Touch and Go
• Year of Release: 2006
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: christopherdrew on 2006-09-13

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Art-rock bugs me; it's really hard to enjoy an album when you've got the sneaking suspicion that someone's pulling your leg, and the slew of electro-clash/dance-punk/indie-glitch-emo-rock that we've had to suffer through over the last few years has left a bitter taste in my mouth. Supersystem, however, seemed to rise above the herd with their 2005 release, 'Always Never Again', which was catchy and smart and never once felt forced. It's why I'm so disappointed with their latest disc, 'A Million Microphones', an album that seems to suffer from the formula of high concept, followed by low execution.

Case in point: lead-off track "Not The Concept" starts off strong but runs out of steam halfway through, and every attempt to revive it only adds to the shambling mess; having vocalist Justin Destroyer shout art-school slogans overtop the din reeks of an attempted distraction, or a protestation along the lines of "No, really! We DO know what we're doing!" The song's indicative of the rest of the album, as every time the band finds a hook, it ends up demolished under an avalanche of synth loops, fractured guitars and annoying-as-hell vocals.

The band meanders through several attempts at songwriting, and frustratingly hit the mark on a couple tracks ('The Lake' is catchy, insistent, and ambiguous enough to be a perfect pop song), but overall it feels as though they ran out of ideas long ago. By the time the album limps out on the monotone closer 'Revolution Summer', you've already forgotten what it was you were listening to in the first place.

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