Simian Mobile Disco - Temporary Pleasure

and Jas Shaw, aka Simian Mobile Disco, evidently don’t have a very high opinion of their music. Naming their second album ‘Temporary Pleasure’ suggests that this offering is nothing more than a short-lived fantasy. How wrong that thought is. Harnessing support from talent such as Beth Ditto, Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip and Jamie Lidell, the duo have produced a follow-up that will undoubtedly keep them in business for a while longer.

Lead single ‘Audacity Of Huge’ is a snarling, dancehound of a song, followed by the gloriously Gameboy-influenced ‘10000 Horses Can’t Be Wrong’; an instrumental which appears to be the soundtrack to a frustrated gamer attempting to get to an unreachable level on Super Mario.

Despite Gossip having just one song that people really care about, Beth Ditto’s contribution here is one of the album’s highlights. ‘Cruel Intentions’ is a soul-synth pleasure that depicts the relief of finding someone who you really connect with, with the repeated line of “Call me up. We’ll hang out. I’m down for whatever”. Maybe not so picky, eh?

Whilst the majority of tracks get the thumbs up, there are a few stinkers. Opening track ‘Cream Dream’ seems to drag its heels through four minutes of repeating the same few lines, sounding like a bad A-Ha ballad. ‘Pinball’ is another, with its tribal beat and random beating of cymbals, with the overall effect being not entirely dissimilar to whale music.

Not a flawless second helping, by any means, but don’t give up the day job yet boys.