Subliminal Girls - 'Self Obsession Is An Art Form'

Subliminal Girls created a bit of a buzz last year with their rainbow hued ‘Burn KOKO’ that sounded like mashed 80s electro injected with a relentlessly annoying football anthem chorus about how terribly awful it must be to be indie.  They return with a double A side comprising of a sad, synth-led reflection on modern times in ‘Self Obsession Is An Art Form’ and a Duran Duran cover from 1982, ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’.  The latter is dragged screaming into 2008 with a faster tempo, though thankfully retains the endearing, hiccuppy eighties electro-blips and a good bit of synth.  It’s inoffensive, but was the world really yearning for a subtly souped up version of a mediocre Duran Duran track? 

Meanwhile, ‘Self Obsession Is An Art Form’ moves down-tempo, following in the same lyrical vein as ‘Burn KOKO’ minus the cocksure arrogance.  Its fizzy synth-imbued charm hangs over chugging guitars and breathy eighties keyboards: a kind of introspective pop-sensible number, not genius, but actually pretty good.  This self-proclaimed ‘nu-pop’ has an obvious shelf life, but taken as lightly as the Subliminal Girls intend, it’s also got the potential to induce a bit of an eighties-electro pop revival amongst those pretentious indie kids this year.

Released 25/02/08 on Weekender.