album // Nice!
This is an extremely elusive CD - released by Cleopatra, it was only made available in the States. It has now found its way back onto the UK Amazon site as an import, but I had to hunt through every record store in a 30 mile radius of Disney World to find it when my wife and I were there getting hitched in September 2001. For me, I will always have fond memories of this album, not only because of always associating it with the happiest day of my life, but also because, flying home just days after September 11 and putting this on when we got home, it seemed to lift our spirits after the horrific events in New York. This is upbeat electropop of the most uplifting variety.
In a way, that shouldn't really be a surprise - though ostensibly a 'collective', Family Fantastic benefit from the synths and electro wizardry of Erasure's Vince Clarke, the pop sensibilities of ex-Big Fun vocalist Phil Creswick, and the superior production sheen of Hitsound's Jason Creasey. Uplifting soulful vocals are provided by Erasure's long-time backing vocalists, Val Chalmers and Emma Whittle, although the girls and Phil take turns to sing lead. Overall, this is an incredibly fun pop record that provides the perfect antidote to much of today's electronic-infused pop by numbers.
The album has a retro feel - it's feet are in the seventies, but its soul is in the eighties. Thumping 4/4 rhythms and cheery piano and synth riffs, plus some funky wah-wah guitar remind you of the glossy productions of eighties alternative disco soul. The style is bouncy, drawing on early Erasure, soul and PWL in equal measure. Vince's synths are immediately distinctive, and he even brings out some of his old trademarks, in particular the digital horns from The Circus. There is no excess here from VC which you perhaps would have expected given his extended work with Martyn Ware; instead this is just pure unadulterated pop keyboard work.
It's meant to be fun, and there is nothing quite like 'Doin' This Thing', which features each member of the collective rapping out a section; how they managed to keep a straight face is beyond me, and I can only assume multiple takes were in order. There are some absolute gems here, and my personal favourites are 'Funky Feet', which is a powerful dancefloor-hugging hybrid featuring an elastic bassline and some distorted vocals from Phil, and 'Better Days' which is a somewhat out of place ballad that could have come straight from Erasure's Cowboy. This album is therapy for the heart, soul and feet, and it'll have you grinning like a Cheshire cat - as will the photo of the band on the inlay. Sublime.