SUPERORGANISM - SELF TITLED REVIEW
by David Curry
Apr 19, 2018
In a band’s discography, the first album often stands out as the most raw, real snippet in the career. For Superorganism, it feels like we are already past the stage of rawness. The self-titled album is a polished and accomplished piece of pop-art, which speaks to the band’s decade-long experience in the music industry.
Superorganism is an eight-piece band, made up of Mark David Turner, Christopher Young, Timothy Shann and Blair Everson, previously of the indie band The Eversons, background vocalists Ruby, B, Soul and lead singer Orono Noguchi.
The album is conventional in its runtime and song length, but that’s as far as convention goes. The intro track, It’s All Good, is an excellent preview of what the rest of the album has to offer.
The mumbly, half-spoken, half-sung voice of Orono drags across the song, with a loud, multi-vocalist chorus to keep you on your toes. Woven throughout the song (and in the rest of the album) are a wild variety of samples, used as instruments rather than background noise, similar to how The Avalanches or Damon Alban’s Gorillaz use them.
Everybody Wants To Be Famous, the band’s lead single from the album is the next in the track-list. A strum of the electric guitar introduces us to the song - a staple of Superorganism - followed again by Orono’s anti-consumerist, care-free voice telling us “It doesn’t matter the cost, cos everybody wants to be famous” and a booming chorus that incorporates cash registers, camera clicks and champagne bottles being popped.
Most of the album follows this fluid, abrasive design, with some spoken word passages from other members of the band. Orono’s voice will be off-putting for some that want more personality from their lead singer, but I found the lyrics dealing with online obsession, loneliness, and consumer fit her dejected, monotone delivery.
The highlights of the album are the where the music and lyrics blend, rather than feeling like two segments of a song. Reflections On The Screen, Something For Your M.I.N.D. and Relax are songs you shouldn’t miss on the album.
Superorganism is definitely one of the most inventive indie pop groups at the moment. The band avoids making their music heavy through oversampling and it is rather impressive to see an eight-piece teamwork in sync so well. I just hope when the next album comes, the band moves away from the strict song structure formula and experiments more.