Fischerspooner "Odyssey" (Capitol)
By Brian Moore
Thursday. Apr 21, 12:39 AM
Making fun of the consumer world they’re a part of by giving it a serious facade.

Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner, the electro art-pop duo behind the music of Fischerspooner, made themselves known in the New York art scene with their kitschy brand of digital “outsider” pop and elaborate live shows replete with dancers, stage effects, and stage antics. The popularity of their live shows led them to sold out shows in Europe and a top single from their debut album, #1. As the album title suggests, these guys like to poke fun at the ever-increasing vapid music world of plastic performers and narcissistic posturing. Like David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust before them, Fischerspooner live is a satirical yet earnest concept in which pop music and its popstar anti-hero are both caricaturized and sublimated in one big ironic performance. Through staged performance and witty popstar histrionics, the group addresses and challenges notions of idolatry and devotional worship of the self-absorbed pop icon. Like Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, and other Pop Art luminaries of the ‘80s art world, Fischerspooner are making fun of the consumer world they’re a part of by giving it a serious facade. Their performance is designed to show us what we are – consumers – and what we are willing to tolerate and define as entertainment. They like to tease their audiences with a purportedly sincere and dark music but counter it with satirical stagecraft to such a degree that the audience is left confused, unsettled, and pissed off – but ultimately intrigued. It is the hilarious equivalent of a John Waters film.

But… the music is not as good.

On their second album, Odyssey, Fischerspooner takes the campy digital electro pop formula and adds a “classic rock” feel to their songwriting. The result is an album that is much more emotionally engaged then their previous. There are moments of cosmic Pink Floydian power and melody, but the detached vocal delivery and overall Depeche Mode quality to their sound gets a bit infuriating (I began to feel like a depressed teen again). I recommend seeing their live show: it is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.
www.fischerspooner.com
www.capitolrecords.com

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Brian Moore

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