Blogarhythms

I’m not sure why, but I think it would be awesome to be multi-lingual. And I know, expecting people to be fluent in numerous languages in a day and age when the average American is barely squeaking by with English seems like a tall order. But personally, I wish I was more proficient in foreign tongues. I do okay with English, and I’ve built up the confidence to tackle a wee bit of reading and translating of a couple of ancient “dead” languages, but it doesn’t seem like enough. I dunno, maybe I equate mastering languages with some “high intellectualism?” Then again, I might just wish I knew what the hell the singers in all the cool foreign bands I like are saying.

Based in Berlin, Germany, co-ed duo Stereo Total aren’t just a foreign band singing in a language I don’t understand. They’re a foreign band singing in five languages I don’t understand! Most of their lyrics are in German or French, but they’ve been known to throw in some Japanese, Spanish, and Turkish too. Oh, and they also sing in English. That’s six languages! You’re probably thinking “ooh, sophisticated,” but the fact is, one of the reasons I love them so much is that they’re a couple of dirty, filthy, sexual deviants. Their music has long been a celebration of unadulterated sexuality and unorthodox romance, openly confronting traditional morals and lifestyles via a deceptively playful blend of dancey Electro-Pop beats, jagged Punk riffs, kitschy ’60s Pop melodies, and subversively girlish vocals. And their newest album Paris-Berlin doesn’t find them mucking about with that formula. I guess smut is an international language, but I’m thankful they deigned to utter their lascivious lyrics in a language I can understand on a few cuts.

Other than a stray word here and there, Japanese New-Wave, Post-Punk outfit Polysics isn’t as liberal in their use of English as Stereo Total. And since most of their lyrics are in Japanese (and a made-up “space language”) I couldn’t really tell you if they’re as sexually liberal either. Despite Japan’s notable love of racy comics and animation, I don’t think they are, as the bits of English that pop up throughout their newest LP Karate House seem far-too-innocent for any of that. When I first chanced across the band they immediately reminded me of Peelander-Z, another outlandishly-attired Japanese Punk band. This was mostly due to the matching jumpsuit-style uniforms they were wearing at the time though, and not any sonic similarity, as Polysics brand of energetic Punk is less about speed and fury, favoring synths, vocoders, and catchy melodies more akin to a New-Wave act like The Cars, wrapped in a campy sense-of-humor and image heavily influenced by Devo.

Of course, Devo sang in English, but compare their experimentalism, philosophical leanings, and general weirdness to the average Pop band of the time and they might as well have been speaking Japanese. So, I suppose that’s just the power of music, that it succeeds in reaching us, even where traditional forms of communication fail.

-El Keter