Blogarhythms

Yesterday’s post was my attempt to start the first official week of Summer 2008 here in the Northern Hemisphere of planet Earth off with a bang. I mistakenly thought I’d be able to keep things bangin’ with more warm-weather party-time music, but a gray & gloomy rain-drenched Monday put a (literal) damper on all that.

I’ve got plenty of rainy-day music sitting around, so switching directions wasn’t a problem. But with so many options splayed out before me the question arose, what album to choose? Odd as it may sound, I found my inspiration not in stacks of CDs or folders full of MP3s, but photos of presidential candidate Barack Obama showing him at a podium decorated with his own reconfigured version of the Seal of the President of the United States that have been making the media rounds.

While numerous pundits rained on Obama’s parade over the move, and his campaign has taken steps to withdraw the logo, I say fuck the haters. Because presumptuous or not, the man’s electrified even the most jaded of constituents, myself included. And that is where today’s featurees, Jacksonville, Florida-based duo Electric President, come in.

Is it coincidence that Electric President’s home-state is known both for it’s warm, sunny, Summer-like climate and it’s role in the last two presidential elections? Well, yeah, it probably is. But group-members Ben Cooper and Alex Kane’s sophomore LP Sleep Well is populated with darkly tinted, melancholic Electronic Pop tunes perfectly suited for overcast skies and rain-flooded streets, and they have “President” in their name, so fate was at work for sure.

The pair’s sound mingles grimly quirky songwriting, electro-acoustic arrangements — comprised of digital beats, a mini-orchestra of traditional analog instruments, sheets of synths, human musicianship and computer glitches & clicks — and nasally vocal harmonies. The result is something like Ben Gibbard, Yoni Wolf and the members of Smashing Pumpkins forming a Radiohead tribute band whose setlists also include live mashups of Gorillaz and Beach Boys songs and guest-appearances from the Flaming Lips, Santogold and MGMT.

“We Will Walk Through Walls” sounds like Queen playing Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.” “Robophobia,” with it’s electric guitars, synths, jittery drums, programmed beats, strings and man vs. machine lyrics is a welcome companion to similarly-themed songs like “Citizens of Tomorrow” by Tokyo Police Club and How I Became the Bomb’s “Robo.” Schizophrenic tempo-changes mark the beautifully ugly album-opener “Monster.” Esoterically apocalyptic lyrics, stomp-clap beats, gurgling bass, twangy guitars and eerie whistles make “Bright Mouths” sound like Yeah Yeah Yeahs referencing Erykah Badu’s New Amerykah Part One and Portishead’s Third. And album-closer “When It’s Black” merges jangly Alt-Rock with Miami Bass-esque programming.

Electric President “When It’s Black”

It’s good stuff, whether you follow politics or not. So the next time it’s too rainy for celebration forget your party affiliation and elect to give Sleep Well a turn at commanding your attention.