Tanlines, Mixed Emotions, 2012

Sunday Run Album Review

We like to think that the world of music has been democratized by things like Apple's GarageBand and the Internet.  Even my guitar teacher and I were discussing the other day, in the context of my maybe trying to make some of my own music, how easy creating and recording music is nowadays.  You don't even need to know a drummer or a bass player to bring your compositions to life.  You can post the fruits of your labor onto sites like YouTube, Bandcamp, or SoundCloud and start building a fanbase.

There have been success stories that followed that formula.  Justin Bieber comes to mind.  But even his ultimate rise to stardom came with the backing of a major label.  When I hear albums like Tanlines' Mixed Emotions, I begin to understand the stranglehold that the major media companies and their radio station partners have on what becomes popular music.  As I ran along the Long Branch Promenade yesterday listening to Mixed Emotions, and as CoolMom and I later bopped around during our dinner preparation like Kramer and Newman cranking out homemade sausage, I wondered why all those people looking for danceable pop music have to listen to LMFAO instead of Tanlines.

Tanlines are percussionist Jesse Cohen and guitarist / vocalist Eric Emm.  Mixed Emotions has been out since March.  I stupidly kind of avoided it, thinking it would be too much dance-oriented, synth pop for my taste.  This, despite the fact that the album opens with two of my favorite tracks of the year.  "Brothers" has a driving 80's beat with Emm singing, "I'm just the same as I ever been / But I'm the only one who doesn't notice it."  The keyboard riff, the build-up to, and the payoff of the chorus on "All of Me" make that song as catchy to me as any this summer.  "Yes Way," "Real Life," and "Cactus" pair African beats with the synths to achieve an even more danceable version of Vampire Weekend-like pop.  "Nonesuch" closes the album, sounding almost like a lost Roxy Music cut.  Overall, I wouldn't quite call Mixed Emotions an 80's revivalist album.  But the synths, Emm's vocals, and the sadness in some of the lyrics all do combine to give the record a distinctly 80's feel.

I don't automatically dislike everything that achieves mega-popularity.  I just wish some of it were better.  Even The Song of the Summer of 2012, Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe," which isn't bad, could use another verse or something to make it sound less repetitive toward the end.  If the world were set up so that a band like Tanlines could really get their music to the mega-masses, I'm sure we'd be seeing tribute / parody / mashup videos for "All of Me" all over YouTube.  And I like to think I'd still enjoy Mixed Emotions just as much as I do now.