Electric Guest
Mondo

Despite everything, lending a keen ear to the latest developments in the pop domain is a good and righteous thing, as long as you don't expect any great masterpieces. There are plenty of pleasant, fun, and well-crafted items to be found; take this 2012 record, for example, the debut album of Electric Guest, a Californian band led by Asa Taccone. The background of this singer/songwriter is anything but encouraging: a Los Angeles native born into privilege, well-connected in the music biz, and a dismal collaboration with Justin Timberlake, characterized by the sleaziest, most polished Hollywood trash that would typically make me turn on my heel and look elsewhere, but there's a but. This guy knows what he's doing, he has his own style and a distinct identity, and he's a decent/good pop songwriter. And then, damn it, I don't need to justify myself to anyone! If there are still people following Madonna, who am I not to give him some credit?

"Mondo" is a modern and engaging easy listening, unpretentious electronica, relaxed and soothing atmospheres, very summery in its sounds but in a very "subtle" way. It's the kind of record you'd willingly listen to while lounging in a hammock with a straw-equipped soft drink in hand. The sounds range from a light funky to 80s reminiscences with a couple of forays into pop-folk, a light and thin voice, often falsetto, never annoying or intrusive, occasionally supported by some amusing background vocals; except for an embarrassing misstep like "Amber", a semi-ballad that's cloying, melodramatic, and remarkably ugly (thank heavens for the "forward" button), "Mondo" is otherwise more than decent. It finds its peaks in the carefree liveliness of "Waves" with its pseudo-psychedelic organ and fresh folkish sounds, and in the light-funky brilliance of "Awake", which tends to make your head sway gently rather than move your body, but for the aforementioned hammock listening, it's ideal. The initial triplet is very enjoyable, composed of the quirky "Holes", a totally relaxed melody with a hypnotic and uniform electronic base, "This Head I Hold", charming and rhythmic, with helium-like filtered vocals, really cute, and "Under The Gun", a text worthy of a bored and uninspired version of Army Of Lovers and a falsetto refrain that incredibly plagiarizes "Any Which Way You Get" by the Scissor Sisters; only Venditti with his "Segreti/You Shook Me All Night Long" has managed to do something more remarkable, still, not bad either. Extremely pedestrian "The Bait", or how to recycle "Tainted Love" for the fiftieth time more than thirty years later, and the psychedelic pastiche of "The American Daydream": Pink Floyd for dummies? Gorillaz? A bit of both, without a hint of creativity; the real surprise of "Mondo" is undoubtedly "Troubleman", a fine ballad with faint and melancholic soul shades that manages to stretch over almost nine minutes without losing appeal, a commendable and well-executed experiment.

In this case, I'm certainly not going to tear my clothes because Electric Guest didn't receive the attention they deserved. In a frivolous and polished pop domain, there are better options, like Chromeo, Scissor Sisters, and Sam Sparro, just to mention a trio of more or less known and televised names. Sure, they are still much better and less stiff and cheesy than the Hurts, but for that, it takes very little. "Mondo" is an excellent mediocre album, excuse this oxymoron, which for its very limited expectations still achieves its intended goal. It would also be my official summer 2013 album; well, yes, Kirsty MacColl's "Tropical Brainstorm," which filled this role in 2010, 2011, and 2012, is a far superior album, but with excessive and continuous use, even the most beautiful things lose effectiveness, and sometimes a refresh is needed. Well, I've finished the review, now I feel lighter and can abandon this condescending tone of mediocrity; phew, well, admit it, it's still better than yet another duplicate of "The 2nd Law."