Falling Into a Dream by The Fleshpeddlers (Review)

The Fleshpeddlers are not what I was expecting. Their dark, “16-year-old-wearing-black” lyrics suggest a generally miserable, gothic air which would be typically growled over a joyless dirge. But wait! They’ve been listening to pop music! And some stuff from the ’80s, and a bit of experimental dance from the ’90s, and they mixed it all up and added grungey guitars and a strained male vocal. So? Another crossover act then? Well, not really. The sound is more complete than simply “rock music with a dance beat” or “pop with an electro beat” because there’s always more to it than that. Plus the feeling that the band wanted to do this rather than thought they could cash in helps give it a bit of staying power.

“Disco Song” is the title of the first track. It doesn’t prepare you for the bizarre Aphex Twin-grunge that buzzes across the speakers. With a mocking chant of a chorus, discordantly tuneful synths, and growly guitars, this is truly twisted disco. “Angie-Girl” is more sedate, almost anthemic in style, telling of the triumphant selfishness of young love. “It’s Perfect” is bouncy disco, marred only by the slightly whiney vocals, and made obscure by the woefully huge divide between the treble end of the sound (some spangly bells) and the bass (everything else). “Lady Electric” is hilarious, filled with frantic drum machines and tempo changes, stuttering keyboards and scratchy vocals. Falling Into a Dream is sweet, simple and spirally but also rather lightweight.

So here’s my rating: 8 of the 12 tracks are hugely engaging, consisting of variations of goth-pop and skewiff dance. That’s a much better than average ratio, beating a lot of commercial groups. The remaining four are a bit bloodless, but you would hardly reach for the skip button.

Overall the album starts really strongly. The whole first half is notable, but there’s a definite trailing away of innovation by the end, with the exception of “Ordinary Eyes,” which is more great pop. The problem with the last half is that the tunes aren’t strong enough or simply too low-fi to grab one’s attention. By this time, the lyrics are bringing nothing new into the equation and the more chilled tracks just sound like the band doing less work instead of doing lighter work. I only criticise so harshly because I feel that if they worked a little harder, they would be achieving greatness.

And perhaps a new name might help.

Written by Paul Morton.