In the period between Haha Sound’s releaseand Tender Buttons, Broadcast have undergone a fair amount of change.Vocalist Trish Keenan and bassist James Cargill are the only remainingmembers, causing them to significantly pare down their sound. Whatremains is a collection of some of the most haunting, minimalistelectronic pop I’ve heard in a good long while.Warp Records
I always found Broadcast to be a bit too derivative of groupslike Stereolab and St. Etienne. Albums like The Noise Made by Peopleseemed long on retro-kitsch and contained a fair share of killer songs,but it never grabbed my attention the way it did for others. Haha Soundwas a decent attempt at filling out the bands sound, but even then itseemed something was off.
These songs have managed to burn themselves into mymind thanks to their strong hooks and understated experimentation. It is aclear indication to the strides made since Haha Sound.“I Found the F” startsthe album on a glacially understated note with trebly guitars matchedby icicle keyboards, light drumming and the distantly evocative vocalsof Trish Keenan. Single “America’s Boy,” a song that seeminglycelebrates and investigates the mystique of American Imperialism,bubbles over an electric drum and a synthesizer that sounds as if itwere recorded in another room. “Tears in the Typing Pool,” the bandpays homage to the psychedelic folk of The United States of America, aband who’ve always played an important part of Broadcast’s sound.
Though theobvious reference point for many will still remain Stereolab, the fact is that thisrelease culls just as much of its sound from 154-era Wire and early '80spost punks like Young Marble Giants. On “Arc of a Journey,” seeminglyrandom blips and beeps sound out behind Keenan’s singing, which is atonce detached and inviting. As the song slowly begins to swell, a bassline is brought in to anchor the seemingly random electric soundscapestaking place. While people may be worried about the state of the bandfollowing the exit of most of its founding members, Tender Buttonsshould alleviate all those concerns. It is a document of a band pullingthemselves together and releasing an album that is playfullyexperimental, minimal, and strikingly heartfelt.
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