Though past Stereolab albums like Emperor Tomato Ketchup, Peng!, and the recent Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night found the French post-rock stylists constantly expanding their universe, their latest simply treads water (or is that loops?).
Like an addendum to ...Milky Night, The First Of The Microbe Hunters uses the same methods and techniques to replicate the same sounds. A chunky rock groove, whirring organs, and playful vibraphone fill "Outer Bongolia." The same rules are followed for "Household Names." "BarockΓÇöPlastik" is harder driving than some S-Lab music, but the oft-used "Sean O'Hagen instrumentation effect" (churgling drum machines, wah- wah guitars, steaming organs) still commands center stage. Gane/Sadier and Co. toy with buzzing systems music on "I Feel The Air (Of Another Planet)," offering a respite from the patented S-Lab sound psychosis, but Microbe Hunters is mostly business as usual.
All recordings courtesy of Elektra Records. All songs written by T. J. Gane, L. Sadier; courtesy of Island Music Publishing (BMI).
