29 Mar 2024
UsernamePassword

Remember Me? | Join | Recover
Click here to sign in via social networking

Computers Want Me Dead - Computers Want Me Dead EP Review

08 Apr 2011 // A review by sidvicious

Electro-synth pop is one of my favourite genres of music and it’s refreshing to see kiwi kids experimenting with it. Computers Want Me Dead, like Kids of 88 and The Naked and Famous, are part of that group of young New Zealanders who are proving that we can make synthpop just as catchy and fun as our British and Germanic counterparts. The Auckland based duo’s self-titled EP is the first of hopefully many releases we’ll see from these guys.  

It’s a fun album, with lots of feeling and funk. Opening with their hit single Letters and Numbers, it’s immediately obvious that Computers Want Me Dead have a talent for creating catchy beats. It’s the type of sound that makes you move and hum without even realising you’re doing it, taking hold of you within the first thirty seconds of the album. Their lyrics have a cutesy charm about them. Not surprisingly, they’re songs about girls. Their lyrics aren’t profound or complicated, but they’re not trying to be, nor should they; synthpop doesn’t give the impression of deep thinking philosophers – it’s far too fun.

One hang up I do have with the record is the lack of vocal power. I appreciate that electro pop is a genre born of drum machines and synthesizers, and correspondingly, vocals can sometimes take a backseat. But my favourite synth groups are those that manage to create catchy beats with strong, compelling vocals and I feel that is the one area that Computers Want Me Dead are lacking. It’s not as though these guys have a lack of vocal talent, which can only mean it’s a stylistic choice. I’m sure vocals drowning in auto-tuning synthesizers is a style that a lot of people do appreciate, but I feel like the music would benefit hugely if the boys allowed their raw vocal talent to come through.

Maybe not coincidently, my favourite track by far on the album is the purely instrumental closing track, Fell Down Every Flight. The technical skill is obvious in every beat and jump. They know how to craft fun and happy music, and it’s hard to put in words the way music like that can inject a certain lightness into your step. And that’s really the most important thing about any album, making its listener feel something. The Computers Want Me Dead EP does that and then some. As a debut release, it shows huge amounts of promise for these young musicians and I’m excited to see this record develop into a full length LP.

Words by Kate McCarten

 

About Computers Want Me Dead

Computers Want Me Dead is a two-piece electro-synth pop band consisting of Sam Harvey and Damien Daniels.

At 18, Sam Harvey was the vocalist in a punk band called the Dark Town Strutters. At 19, he started producing textural electronic music under the moniker 'Plastic Flowers On Video'. By 21, he had joined a goth/industrial band with long time friends ('Decoma'), but soon left this band to continue his exploration of music and genre. It was in Los Angeles in 2003 that he discovered his passion for synth-pop.

Damien Daniels, who was raised in Hong Kong and is the son of two prominent 80's TV personalities, spent much of his teenage years listening to 'intellectual dance music', and spent a couple of years playing synth and bass in a synth-rock band called 'The Beautiful Burn'.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Computers Want Me Dead

Releases

Computers Want Me Dead
Year: 2011
Type: EP

Other Reviews By sidvicious

Shapeshifter - Live at the Forum, Melbourne - 29/10/2011
01 Nov 2011 // by sidvicious
Shapeshifter represents New Zealand to me – festivals, trips to the Coromandel with friends, New Years, Big Day Out, beaches and beer. Hearing Bring Change can, in an instant, remind me of everything I love and miss about New Zealand; they’ve been the soundtrack to years and years worth of summers.
Read More...
Concord Dawn - The Race to Zero EP Review
28 Jul 2011 // by sidvicious
The Race to Zero EP is only the second release since Concord Dawn’s two became one in 2008. But within the first few seconds of the opening track 1925, it’s pretty apparent that The Enemy Within was no fluke.
Read More...
F In Math - Couch EP Review
30 Jun 2011 // by sidvicious
Funk isn’t a term one would typically associated with music born of drum machines and synthesizers. But that’s the first word that came to mind after the opening minute of the opening track of F in Math’s first recorded album, Couch EP.
Read More...
Mali Mali - Brotherly EP Review
31 May 2011 // by sidvicious
Mali Mali is a relatively new Auckland-based three-piece headed by self-described singer/songwriter Ben Tolich. After parting with his band early last year, Tolich decided to focus on music with a rawer, more authentic sound.
Read More...
Michelle Nadia - 'Firefly' Album Review
17 May 2011 // by sidvicious
Michelle Nadia is a singer/songwriter who has been writing and performing music both in New Zealand and overseas for many years. Accompanying her extensive nationwide tour is her long-awaited debut album Firefly.
Read More...
Shapeshifter - System Remix Album Review
08 Apr 2011 // by sidvicious
There’s no debating that Shapeshifter are one of New Zealand’s most successful musical exports, and it’s not hard to see why. Shapeshifter are quite simply phenomenal and because they’ve proven it to me so many times before, I’m always expecting amazing things with the release of any new singles, albums or live tours.
Read More...
State Of Mind - Nil By Ear Album Review
07 Apr 2011 // by sidvicious
I’m not nearly any sort of ‘bass-head’ by any stretch of the imagination, but State of Mind have proven to me once again why I rate them as one of my favourite New Zealand groups. Their new album Nil By Ear is up there with one of the best drum and bass albums to come out of New Zealand, and when you’re among such talent as Shapeshifter and Six60, that’s a pretty impressive accomplishment.
Read More...
Crash-Test For Favourite Things - The Powers That Be EP Release Party - March 19 @ Juice Bar, Parnell
24 Mar 2011 // by sidvicious
So after having the pleasure of reviewing Crash Test for Favourite Things’ brand spanking EP The Powers That Be, they invited me along to their EP release party on Saturday night at Juice Bar in Parnell. Like I said, before I reviewed the EP, I’d never even heard of Auckland four-piece Crash Test for Favourite Things.
Read More...
View All Articles By sidvicious

NZ Top 10 Singles

  • WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS (WAIT FOR YOUR LOVE)
    Ariana Grande
  • BEAUTIFUL THINGS
    Benson Boone
  • END OF BEGINNING
    Djo
  • LOSE CONTROL
    Teddy Swims
  • TEXAS HOLD 'EM
    Beyonce
  • STICK SEASON
    Noah Kahan
  • PRAISE JAH IN THE MOONLIGHT
    YG Marley
  • CARNIVAL
    Kanye West And Ty Dolla $ign
  • SATURN
    SZA
  • LOVIN ON ME
    Jack Harlow
View the Full NZ Top 40...
muzic.net.nz Logo
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report a ProblemReport A Problem