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 Caught in the Carousel - Music Reviews and More
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IAMX
The Alternative
60 Seconds
Chris Corner is no longer "becoming X," to borrow a phrase from his Sneaker Pimps debut—now he is X. The new album The Alternative by Berlin-based IAMX pulses with plenty of dark-laced dance rock that is sure to please fans of bands like Nine Inch Nails, Placebo, Muse, and She Wants Revenge while also hearkening back to '90s acts like Stabbing Westward and Machines of Loving Grace and '80s staples Depeche Mode and Skinny Puppy. Yet IAMX's brand of synth-pop arena-rock is more melodic and less industrially messy than some of these comparative counterparts, a tribute to Corner's sensual, yet feverish crooning along with tinges of piano that gird each song. In fact, the opening track, "President," is more akin to waltzing cabaret-style goth ala Dresden Dolls and Voltaire, as Corner shepherds his disenfranchised flock with the chilling chorus, "For all you lonely boys/I will be President/In all you sons of man/I can be accident." The down-tempo duo of songs "Lulled by Numbers" and "Song of Imaginary Beings" further reinforce this haunting soundscape of ache and absence. These tracks are like the whispering and wrestling of the inner conscience: on the former cut, Corner pleads, "When nothing is left/There is always us," while the latter song laments, "The phoenix says/The devil says/The serpent says/The siren says/Why is the word/When the word needs the meaning?" Deeper into the album, "S.H.E." wails this axiomatic truth atop heavy piano chords: "When you're lying on the stage/And nothing works/Just living hurts/Forget, forget/With a Secret Harmonic Emotion." Perhaps the best lyric of all comes in the closing ballad, "This Will Make You Love Again," when Corner frankly seduces, "If I have to switch the lights off/I wanna switch them off with you."
However, ultimately it is the ambitious big-sound dance anthems that rev the engine and hold the album together. Standout tracks include: the drum-driven voyeurism of "The Negative Sex," the fast-lane excess of "Nightlife," the sultry angst of "After Every Party I Die," the spastic machinations of "Bring Me Back a Dog," and of course, the fist-pumping thesis "The Alternative." Each one of these songs could easily stir an entire American stadium to its feet, should the U.S. find itself lucky enough to catch IAMX performing live.
In fact, Corner recently treated a sold-out crowd at San Francisco's Café du Nord to an electrifying 13-song set comprised of these tracks plus a few Sneaker Pimps faves. Seeing IAMX live in such a small venue was like wandering into a scene from A Clockwork Orange: plenty of goth, glam, and glitter with hints of lyrical gore to galvanize the crowd. Corner's androgynous swagger captivated ladies and gents alike, and his occasionally cheeky, indecorous banter with the audience between songs was oddly all the more endearing. The venue itself became a bold painter's kaleidoscope of reds and yellows, befitting the album's artwork. Based on the audience's response, IAMX is sure to find a receptive welcome from America's darklings should Corner bring his act back again soon. In the meantime, The Alternative is a must-have record for anyone who loves the taste of the midnight air.
—Mark Cabasino
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