Awesome New Republic
Hearts
Play Hearts
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AMG Review of Hearts
Rick Anderson
All Music GuideOne of the pleasures of reaching a certain age is that you get to watch young whipper snappers (on whose coolness radar you no longer even register as a faint bleep) become intoxicated by the music that was new and exciting when you were their age. As teenagers, it was rockabilly that many were discovering for the first time while their parents looked on with bemused indulgence. For today's teens, it's synth pop -- if Erasure were starting out in 2009, they wouldn't have to change much (if anything) about their sound in order to hit the charts. Michael John Hancock and Brian Robertson, who record together as Awesome New Republic, have caught the zeitgeist with a passion, and their full-length debut at times sounds like a tribute to bands like Yaz, Erasure, and Yello. "Whatever," the album opener, comes on like a manifesto, with its blippy synth lines, thumping mod-disco beat, plastic handclaps, and ecstatically heartbroken falsetto vocals; "Dances When" follows up with a particularly Erasure-like groove, nice but not quite transcendent. The vocal harmonies on "Birthday" are especially attractive, and the acoustic-based "Digital Eworld" offers a nice textural change-up, whereas the more rockish "Wheels, No Engines" (which features a near-Springsteenian glockenspiel) falls rather flat. Not every track here feels fully realized or manages to generate all the energy it was clearly meant to, but taken as a whole this album is a solid achievement. If Hearts turns out to be Awesome New Republic's weakest release, then they're in for a rewarding career indeed.
Awesome New Republic: "Hearts" (album review)
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Over the course of several EPs, Miami electronic pop duo Awesome New Republic has built quite a following. The buzz surrounding their new album Hearts, out tomorrow, has grown steadily as has the anticipation. For the most part, the pair deliver on the expectations.Basing their slick indie mostly on an '80s techno pop influence, the band has put together a collection of tunes that could
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Awesome New Republic: "Hearts" (album review)
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Artist:
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Album:
Over the course of several EPs, Miami electronic pop duo Awesome New Republic has built quite a following. The buzz surrounding their new album Hearts, out tomorrow, has grown steadily as has the anticipation. For the most part, the pair deliver on the expectations.Basing their slick indie mostly on an '80s techno pop influence, the band has put together a collection of tunes that could
More >
SHORT STACK: Tegan & Sara // Awesome New Republic // Washed Out
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Track:Alleycat
Last time I did "Short Stack" post was back in July and for good reason - it's super time consuming and tedious. But today I've got a good collection, so why not share my gold?Up first is a new tune from Tegan & Sara's upcoming LP Sainthood [Oct 27th via Sire]. The Ocean is classic T & S with layered vocals, soft but lifting guitar, and emotional lyrics of yearning. Tegan & Sara - The Ocean **...
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 "Hearts")
