The Rogers Sisters - The Invisible Deck (Too Pure)
4/5
By: Michael Cragg
The Rogers Sisters aren't all that they appear to be. For a start, they aren't all sisters. Secondly, they aren't all women, sisters Jennifer and Laura joined by honorary member, Miyuki Furtado. It's his yelping vocals that anchor the catchy first single, 'Why Won't You?'. Coming on like a hybrid of The White Stripes' minimal blues-rock and The Rapture's funky bass lines, it shares both these acts effortless ability to sound completely relevant and yet refer back to the musical past. It also displays The Rogers Sisters' contempt with being pigeon holed, preferring instead to pour all their influences- a dash of Talking Heads, some 80s stadium rock, the Detroit scene they were formed in- into a melting pot and see what comes out.
If 'Why Won't You?' is the perfect single, then 'Your Littlest World' and the eight-minute album closer 'Sooner Or Later' swap the pop hooks for discordant shards of guitar feedback and repetitive lyrics. As impressive as these songs are it only makes you yearn for the three-minute blasts that open the album. These return in the form of the brilliant 'The Clock', which marries a staccato drumbeat with a brilliant call and response lyric, and the previously released glam stomp of 'Emotion Control'.
In the past The Rogers Sisters have been labelled 'political', mainly because they used a picture of George Bush on the cover of their hard-to-find debut, 'Purely Evil'. But anyone expecting a polemic on the state of the nation will be disappointed, the band choosing instead the well-worn road of abstract dissatisfaction; "Terror brought the world to order/ Lecherous heathens had to free us/ Bury our souls and saw our feet off". These lyrics from 'The Light' are, however, placed above a tight, synapse- snapping pop melody that takes any tendency for maudlin introspection and sticks a rocket up its arse.
'The Invisible Deck' is one of those - an album that may take a few listens, but once it gets under your skin it will remain there for a while. Ignore the six minute long drones and head instead to the short blasts of modern day paranoia and restlessness; they're more fun, promise!
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