Zonoscope

Cut Copy do it their way

Like true Australians, the members of Cut Copy respond to winter quite differently than people in other parts of the world do. The Green Continent seems to keep on living wild and loud in winter, without falling asleep, as the sensation of partying remains long after the last sounds of Christmas and New Year. Cut Copy demonstrate all of it on their new studio work, Zonoscope. The CD features a collection of finest dance pieces which will keep the fire burning at any dance floor, even if this place is confined by the snows of Antarctica. In fact, this brigade of Australian party makers has not been making this kind of music all the way from the start. Moreover, Zonoscope is quite different even if compared with their previous record, In Ghost Colours, issued a couple of years ago. Their last to date effort completes Cut Copy’s final transition from indie-rock they used to play in the distant part to the dance sort of music based steadily on electronica and pop. It took the band quite a while to shape up their present sounding, owing to their ten-year experience on the big stage. Throughout all these years, Cut Copy have been always seen as one of the most promising and original acts, but only a short while ago they began paying back for all the praise and hopes. First, they issue the above mentioned In Ghost Colours, and then they followed up with the indescribable Zonoscope.

Triumph of electronica, magic of atmosphere

Whatever word has the ‘scope’ root, we unwillingly tie it up with imaginary pictures of space, stars and night. We seem unable to do anything about it. Having given their new long player a puzzling title, Zonoscope, the member of Cut Copy did not deceive our expectations. The music on this CD is a flight across the firmament of electronic. Keep near memorable choruses borrowed from pop, but beware the labyrinth of beats holding tight each track here. This is the highest form of synth-pop decorated with the melodious vocals and the variety of special effects. The album is introduced with the marvelous Need You Now, an amazing welcome to the rest of the set. The general atmosphere reminds much of the eighties, with the same distinct rhythmic lines and the same airy, almost yawning, singing. Take Over is notable for the bass put far ahead of everything else and serving as a skeleton for the easy and pleasant tune. The accent on the rhythm section is also applied in Blink And You’ll Miss A Revolution, and Alisa. On the contrary, Hanging Over Every Heartbeat bears more tangible guitars and has much in common with the old-school rock and roll. Nevertheless, the set is closed with the fifteen-minute Sun God putting it as clear as possible that the musicians from now on prefer electronica to rock.

Is Zonoscope just a beginning?

Zonoscope marked all the new guidelines for Cut Copy. The musicians subdued guitars and landed a great lot of synthesized sounds. The band is nor more a rock-dance band, but just a dance band. Judging by how effortlessly the musicians prepared a solid album in excess of almost an hour, and how different its songs are, we should not have any doubts concerning even further advancement in this direction. The secret once again seems an easy trick to pull. The retro-styled sounding influenced by the first gurus of electronic, like Brian Eno, makes this music intriguing and innovational, while pop-music vocal parts and the vocals themselves make it ready hit material to remember long and well. It even seems a little strange that Cut Copy brought themselves to thus kind of music only now. On the other hand, ten years is not a too long period for a band, especially if its members have just discovered their own style. Zonoscope will be interesting to those who are fond of style fusion and to those who simply like light and dance music. It will help you fight the frost in the cruel winter time.