CABARET VOLTAIRE: CODE (1987)
1) Don't Argue; 2) Sex, Money,
Freaks; 3) Thank You America; 4) Here To Go; 5) Trouble (Won't Stop); 6) White
Car; 7) No One Here; 8) Life Slips By; 9) Code.
This, I believe, is where it makes all kinds of
sense to jump ship. If The Covenant
made at least superficial efforts to preserve Cabaret Voltaire's psycho
atmosphere, Code just drops it all
in favor of a completely redesigned, rebranded, glossed-up sound that makes
Cabaret Voltaire no different from dozens, if not hundreds, of artists in the
electro-pop genre. Their reliance on «Art Of Noise aesthetics» continues
unabated, but there are no signs of a newly found sense of humor, and there is
nothing offered to truly delight the senses.
Track after track, everything on Code sounds the same: thick synthetic
bass, electronic percussion, ornamental synthesizers, and Mallinder's
"peril's-always-round-the-corner" vocals that we would love to hear
resolve themselves in a mighty scream at least once — suspense is fine, but not when it lasts forever; eventually,
it ceases to be suspense and becomes routine. If Mallinder and Kirk were
masters of the pop hook, things could be brighter; they are not, though, and
neither do they qualify as masters of the electronic groove.
It does not really get any better or any worse
than the first track. Like the Manson-soaked tracks on Covenant, ʻDon't Argueʼ tries to brew up a feeling of danger and
paranoia by sampling dialog from Your
Job In Germany, Frank Capra's «training» movie for GIs who occupied Germany
in 1945, with stern "you will not be friendly... you will be
aloof..." warnings scattered all over the track. Problem is, the remaining
parts of the track are simply too emotionally weak to be compatible with
Capra's genuinely serious overdubs. What are they trying to scare us with — the
bubbly bass? The thin, wimpy, string synths? The hushed multi-tracked vocal
melody? Yes, it is objectively «paranoid-sounding», but for all these much-clichéd
tricks, you can clearly feel that the major focus is on the danceable rhythm,
not the atmosphere that goes with it. In fact, remove the film overdubs and
it's like... third prize in the local «create-your-own-Prince-groove» high
school competition or something. Useless, really.
And with that heavy feeling, you discover the
second track (ʻSex, Money, Freaksʼ) and you find out that its vibe is pretty
much the same. All the ingredients are the same — and the final effect is the
same: danceable, for sure, but artistically bland. Third, fourth, fifth
track... all the same, all the way to the end. Honestly, I have not the
faintest idea why anybody should have listened to this back in 1987, let alone
now. Thumbs
down, and let's be done with it, because other than a bunch of
expletives, I cannot think of anything
else in the constructive vein.
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