Search - Russian Futurists :: Our Thickness

No disaster, but a tad underwhelming nonetheless

Animal | London | 08/24/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"As a fan of both confessional indie singer songwriters and lo-fi electronica, I loved The Russian Futurists' debut album, "The Method Of Modern Love". The former was a dark, synth-driven, and somewhat angst-ridden collection of songs about the breakup of a relationship. What saved it from being self-indulgent mopey dross was the inclusion of at least half a dozen indelibly beautiful melodies.



Unfortunately, the follow-up "Let's Get Ready To Crumble" had fewer of those and "Our Thickness" has fewer still. It sounds like sole Russian Futurist Matthew Adam Hart is now undergoing a relatively stable emotional period in his life, and however cliched or selfish it may sound, I can't help feeling that his music has suffered slightly because of this. It's not that "Our Thickness" is a bad album - "Paul Simon", "Why You Gotta Do That Thing" and "Incandescent Hearts" are all catchy songs which I'd happily hum on the tube on my way to work. It's just that, compared to "The Method Of Modern Love" and, to a lesser extent, "Let's Get Ready To Crumble", it just sounds, well, chirpy and a tad too lightweight.



"

Nothing next to "the method of modern love"

a.dahlgrun | Hannover/Berlin/Frankfurt | 01/06/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"i agree with animal grrrrr on most points even though i can't really put my finger onto what actually makes this album so unsatisfying. me and the 2 friends of mine who appreciate this sort of music agree that "methods" is an absolute classic and that "crumble" is a fine but not really great follow-up (by the way, the songs on "crumble" are far too short, the whole album is less than 30 minutes).



my friends haven't heard "our thickness" yet but i've had it for a while now and i'm trying to figure out what matt has lost. is it really only that he's a happier person now? i don't know, even though to my taste a melancholy undertone is absolutely essential for good pop music (something i also miss on most of the recent new order songs, as opposed to their 80s albums).



maybe for "methods", matt simply had more time to let the ideas for the songs evolve. they feel fuller and more thought-out whereas on "our thickness", i feel he often just took a particular idea or sound and stretched it into a song. on a couple of pieces on "our thickness", the results aren't only not that good but really quite annoying. or maybe i'm just missing a little variation in the songs, not necessarily verse-chorus-verse, just something that makes them more interesting.



in the end, i guess it's just a matter of taste, but i think it's no coincidence that uncut magazine - which is usually quite loyal to its favorites - didn't mention this album at all whereas "methods" got a big rave review and "crumble" a small ok-ish one."

Judge An Album By Its Cover

queenie | brooklyn, ny | 05/26/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The album caught my eye because of the tattoo cover (which I love!)-- and so I bought it even though I'm not really familiar with the band. Playing the album, I was really surprised at how tight they are, kind of a raggedy pop sound, each track a little different in instrumentation, rhythm, mood.... Definitely interested in digging into this band a bit further."