Gruff Rhys from Wales makes beautiful psychedelic indie rock with his band Super Furry Animals, and also garnered praise with his two solo albums. Boom Bip is a slightly deranged electronics producer from Cincinatti, who also collaborated with Rhys on his earlier albums. Now there is Neon Neon, a fully-fledged new project of the two. The duo performs strongly on the electro and synthi pop music of
… the eighties and the superlatives in the international press are not from the air. Both Boom Bip and Rhys are therefore blessed with a rare sense of pop, which gives the songs built from corny loops and synthesizer sounds something irresistible. But sometimes it also goes further. Trick Of Treat and Sweat Shop are perfect pastiches to the hip hop productions of The Neptunes, complete with contributions from Spank Rock and Fatlip. Steel Your Girl again relies heavily on the pop rock of the eighties, with guitars that could have been on a Bryan Adams record. But it is all tasteful and (fortunately) done with a wink. (MS)more
