The Rapture - Echoes

If you read music news sites or magazines, then you probably know that The Rapture's Echoes has been jammed into the hype machine more times in the past several months than I care to count. All of that interest in The Rapture’s incredibly flashy punk/dance style must have gotten snagged up in the hype machine, because the lack of elegant songwriting, development, and (dare I say it) talent on this album is far too obvious to shrug off as mainstream misfortune. While the dance floor drums (though full of presets and standard implementation) mixed with punk-rock guitars may make for an attractive foundation, the computery (bleep bleep bloop bloop blop blop) synths, poorly sung vocals, and throw-away lyrics ruin any of the high-points that this record may once have had. I can’t recall the last time I’ve heard such an uninspired album; repetitively bland lyrics, generic album art, and very basic melodies create a vacant sensation that not only bores me, but casts a bad reputation on those other artists that are trying to sort out and refurbish the 80’s electronic sound. I would have to assume that The Rapture went into the studio with the “ohhh well… sigh… I suppose we have to make an album now…” attitude and the music reflects this apathetic disregard. I really can’t imagine anyone having this album on a top ten list, unless that list is for “most disappointing albums of the year.” People will say that The Rapture is maturing and restraining the “rock” portion of their sound, but it seems to me as though they’re blatantly abandoning all of the experimental rawness (which was the key component that gave them such a punchy style and also reinforced the less-than-fantastic lyrics) for monotonous, repetitive, empty dance-venue popularity. Style over substance may temporarily satisfy a listener, but prolonged attention will strip away that thinly coated layer of auditory pleasure, thus revealing the emotionally void, purposelessness that is the core of this album. [www.therapturemusic.com]