When financial ruin, explosive internal tensions and abortive,drug-fuelled recording sessions finally claimed the life of Frenchelectro-punk group Metal Urbain, Metal Boys rose from their ashesPhoenix-like and went on to a celebrated and influential 20-yearcareer, applauded by critics worldwide for their originality anddaring. Well, not quite. In fact, the Metal Boys only lasted a coupleof years, they are celebrated by no one, and they could only muster onealbum, recently rescued from total obscurity by Carpark subsidiaryAcute. Acute smartly released a career-spanning retrospective of MetalUrbain earlier this year, but they not-so-smartly follow-up with twolackluster latter-day efforts by Metal Urbain refugees (Dr. Mix and theRemix's inessential Wall of Noiseis also due out soon on the label). It's hard to say what the problemis exactly with Metal Boys, the project of Eric Debris and CharlesHurbier from the original lineup of Metal Urbain. Perhaps it's theircurious lack of identity, as they schizophrenically shuffle through ahandbook of genres, unable to settle on anything. The opening trackshares the energetic, motorik stomp of Metal Urbain, but its quicklyfollowed by "Suspenders in the Dark," a blind stab at theSuicide/Throbbing Gristle sound that borders on parody with ridiculousEnglish-language vocals such as "The rain stops my tits from growing"and "I saw my mother fucking a nuclear missile." It's unclear whyBritish singer China didn't alert the French duo to the grammaticallyawkward, hokey lyrics they were asking her to sing. Other tracks (andeven the album's sleeve artwork) seek to emulate such electro-dandyoutfits as David Sylvian's Japan or early Duran Duran, but thesongwriting is stunted, songs are often far too long, and the stylisticinconsistencies all conspire to make Tokio Airport one of themore laborious listens I've had in a while. Amateurish, Kraftwerk-esquesynthesizer ditties like "Carbone 14" might be charming on some work ofoutsider bedroom-electro, but from musicians who used to be involved increating challenging, enduring rock music, it seems rather unfortunate.The pessimistic, cold-war futurism of the album's lyrics and thegroup's angular, dandified bearing are conceits directly lifted fromtheir new-wave contemporaries. A pair of bonus tracks originallyintended for release as a 12" single, "Disco Future" and "Outer Space,"sound like low-rent versions of classic TG tracks "Adrenaline" and"Persuasion." So, the Metal Boys are not the logical continuation ofMetal Urbain, but rather simply an odd historical footnote that mayappeal to borderline-autistic completists, but are generallyunremarkable otherwise. - Read More
