Lali Puna
Our Inventions

Ok, mean review!

The new album by the Germans Lali Puna is titled "Our Inventions" and, let's be clear, it doesn't have even a shadow of inventions. To those who have never listened to them and have never dabbled in indie-tronica in general, it might almost seem cool, but to those who already know and esteem(ed) them, for the - entire - listening of this work, the reviewer advises: volume up and a nice 6-cup moka of constantly ground coffee, because, trust me, you'll need it!

Strange, because after 6 years from that gem "Faking The Books," which had plenty of innovation, from Markus Acher and company, already Notwist (their latest "The Devil You + Me" is very nice instead), as well as Tied & Tickled Trio, we would have expected a further step forward, and instead, nothing, there you go.

Here we go back, to the warm electronics and vocals and nothing else of "Tridecoder," 1999 to be exact, a great album, which at the time inspired ullallà none other than the Radiohead in the making of "Kid A," and damn! But it was the last century and meantime a ton and a half of music has passed through the world's ears, which is why in itself this album isn't bad, but it's irreparably bland and in some ways past its prime.

I could be wrong, may the experts assist me, but it also seems strange that in the Morr Music house - the absolute reference label in the electro-indie matter, nothing new has been coming out for quite a while, but rather they have well settled on a minimalist neo-folk, hopefully in better times.

Maybe there's nothing left to invent, maybe the world has long since taken possession of all those sound solutions that once enchanted us, maybe music - like our frenetic lives - is running too fast and with this damn web your ideas can be snatched in a second, but one thing is certain, the ideas here are really missing, it's all been heard before, and what's left is just a great Notwist-craft.

Despite Valerie Trebeljahr's vocals always being very captivating, I found no standout tracks here, there's a flicker of life here and there, but nothing special, and the synth-pop-electro-glitch-indie-BLUES in the end - but also in the middle - envelops everything, what a pity...

Auf Wiedersehen, Lali Puna!

rating: 2.5