The 80's Called...4 Out Of 5 Stars
Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian, as Capital Cities, have decided that the best music ever made was done by all those synth-pop duos and bands that jumped out of the early eighties to create massively hooky singles with just a couple of keyboards and maybe a few added guests on the side. When they get it right, as they do on the earworm single "Safe and Sound," they rival the best of them. "In A Tidal Wave Of Mystery" works hard to maintain that level of infectiousness, and succeeds more often than not.
The bulk of "Mystery" bubbles with hooky synth-lines and danceable beats, while having a go at sunshine grooves. When a song about valuing your stereo more than your furniture winds into the disc ("I Sold My Bed But Not My Stereo" - what a great title), you get that Capital Cities are more into having fun than trying to say anything of import. Their one big experiment, "Farrah Fawcett Hair," playfully interjects samples from National Public Radio, a couple of verses via Andre 3000, and then drops a dubstep break in the middle. There's no denying the happy vibe of "Love Away" or "Patience Gets Us Nowhere Fast" as well.
I guess this is the current vogue as, even as I think of early Depeche Mide, OMD or Naked Eyes while listening to "In A Tidal Wave of Mystery," I also can't help but be reminded of more recent offerings from Phoenix, Passion Pit or the debut from MGMT. With those kind of comparisons in mind, "In A Tidal Wave of Mystery" is hardly mysterious at all. It's an enjoyable debut CD, with hopes that Merchant and Simonian can keep the good vibrations coming on future efforts.
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