In a recent interview, Algiers bassist and Atlanta native Ryan Mahan described the American south as “one of the epicentres of the construction of the modern world; modern economies built on slavery, exploitation, everything like that, and also built on this very confused hypocrisy that actually we’re all nice, genteel southern people - we’re all part of civilised society and at the same time we’re horrifically structurally violent.”
That is a pretty good outline of the themes on Algiers’ second album, ‘The Underside of Power’. It’s a record of uncompromising musical intellectualism, political awareness and a heavy dose of spiritual pessimism. Standouts include the title track, Cleveland and Cry of the Martyrs and all three songs make great use of Franklin James Fisher’s psych-soul tones alongside neo-Motown arrangements and gospel backing vocals.
Another great track is Animals. Here, the sound is somewhere between the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Fuck Buttons but it carries its own experimental energy. Algiers are a band who proudly float above generic definition, and when the music delivers the result is transcendental.
Elsewhere, textures are hit and miss. The opener, Walk Like a Panther, is a musical bomb blast which layers trap-infused 808 drum loops, fuzz guitar and the kind of vocal overkill you hear from Christina Aguilera at the Super Bowl. The result is at best ragged, and at worst self indulgent. Full of sound and fury, signifying...something.
Another song that suffers from this uneven production is the closer, The Cycle / The Spiral, which is a double-time jazz shuffle that descends (or ascends) into a churchy extemporised jam. Here, the electro elements undercut the soul and groove of the music. Initially, it feels over-produced, but the reality is probably that the songwriting isn’t strong enough on this occasion to carry off the generic fusion.
It actually strikes at the heart of why this kind of experimental soul-rock is difficult to pull off. The emotional baggage you get with electronica is wildly different to punk, which is wildly different to gospel, and so on. To cut through this spiritual complexity, you need something approaching Paul Simon or Stevie Wonder's ear for arrangement, and even they get it wrong sometimes.
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