Lunatic Calm
Metropol

THE REVIEW

"When we were young, it was a whole different thing. Because we were fools"

Every now and then, I love to take a look at things that are out of fashion, kitsch, and out-dated. In particular, I love to observe with ironic detachment and a smug sense of superiority those things that, at the time of their emergence, seemed beautiful, fresh, and innovative, and which, as soon as their moment of glory ended, disappeared into nothingness like cigarette butts down the school toilet flush. Because somehow kitsch manages to be among the most interesting products of an era: maybe its intrinsic value requires an effort of empathy to be appreciated, maybe this intrinsic value never existed. However, even in the latter case, a search through the dusty boxes of used items brings to our attention small faded slides of a vanished world, all the more significant when they date back to a time we remember. And so these remnants of the past make us reflect on the passage of time and the futility of human life and think, "what kind of crap did people get excited about at that time?"

Metropol by Lunatic Calm is a record of that kind. It's a record born in the Nineties. And if in the Seventies the great records were those innovative, imaginative, or aligned with the party line, if in the Eighties the great records were full of synths and big keyboards, in the Nineties the records had to rock. And Metropol, the debut dated 1997 from our fellows, is a record that rocks. Put this in the background while you read, and you'll understand how much it rocks. But the reasons why Metropol rocks are manifold:

• We're dealing with a British duo that did breakbeat, the quintessential rocking electronic of the Nineties. Do you remember Prodigy's The Fat of The Land? Well, their less savvy and more chaotic version.
• They go heavy on big beat, crude rock samples, winks to industrial (so they say at least), and stuff that generally rocks.
• They appeared on the soundtracks of The Matrix, FIFA 2001, Mortal Kombat Annihilation, Lara Croft Tomb Raider 2, Charlie's Angels, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the trailer of the first Spider-Man with the guy from Pleasantville, TV series, and dumb TV shows. Stuff that rocks more than Slipknot.
• They remixed very nineties people like Curve, Bush, and Pitchshifter. Whatever happened to them, who knows.
• They have a cover that nobody understands what it is with all the squared and blurred letters, and the title of one of their tracks has all the letters attached.
• It's music that rocks, so you can pop the compact disc into your personal computer and use it as a soundtrack while playing Quake.
• They made a second record in 2002, failed to reproduce their success, and disappeared into nothingness.

Alright, and the rest? Cute, but nothing special. Aside from those two or three famous songs, particularly the omnipresent Leave You Far Behind (which rocks), the rest of the record fails to carry the mixture of electronics and rock to its due consequences, and the overall level isn't that remarkable. For Lunatic Calm, there was no chance of survival through the changing trends. But if you like these sounds, stick with your favorite free internet music provider and give it at least a listen. If it's not worth it, at least you can reflect on what kind of crap people got excited about at that time. Myself included, maybe.