Desmond and the Tutus return after a hiatus. Why?

 DESMOND AND THE TUTUS                              DESMOND (2020)

 

Apparently this release is the band’s first record after a long hiatus. It seems that the influence of Beatenberg, Al Bairre and Short Straw, and various similar lightweight, twee pop bands that achieved some fame in the decade between 2010 and 2020, has been more pervasive than I would’ve thought. 

 

Way back I watched a series of YouTube videos of bands performing at Rocking the Daisies, probably circa 2013,  and was fascinated by the enthusiasm of the musicians, bouncing up and down on stage with vibed up energy, yet making music that was  lacking in power, tunes and variety. The songs and the vocals tended to be so samey one could be listening to the same song over and over and the same band over and over. it bobbled my mind why anyone would want to make that kind of music or, even more worrisome, why anyone would want to listen to that shit.  It’s okay in the live environment, when everyone’s high and/or drunk and full of happy daze but imagine playing the songs in your living room or on your music player at gym.

 

Presumably, the musicians make this kind of music not simply because they have a burning desire to make twee pop but because there is a perceived commercial demand for this product and I may be out of the loop here but, damn, this stuff just doesn’t engage my attention.

 

The positives are that the production values are high, the tunes are well crafted, there are hooks and ingenious arrangements, high energy and the musicians can play. here’s lots of funkiness and African-style guitar references that make the songs quite fun on a case by case basis.

 

The negatives are the anodyne tweeness and ultimate blandness of the product. The vocalist’s whiny voice also irritates. 

 

I also wonder why people write the kind of lyrics that seem rooted in teenage angst, long after the lyricist has passed 30 and has reached, presumably, some kind of maturity.

 

The blurb refers to Desmond and the Tutus as “indie darlings” and this might well be the case but for me the make shallow, forgettable music that has no impact beyond a low level sugar rush, and once the last note of the last song fades, so does the album.  I’m reminded of Cape Town band  Amersham, who released many albums from the mid to late Nineties, all of them journeyman-like worthy but as forgettable.  The effort is worthy but ultimately pointless.