The Polyamorous Affair – Bolshevik Disco

is unspeakably fun. There’s a sense of the ridiculous present in this release, and don’t The Polyamorous Affair know it. The juxtaposition of Bolshevik and Disco conjures up entertaining thoughts, and indeed there seems to be a more than slight sense of military revolution in the air in intro song ‘The Interrogation’. Imagine walking through a theme park, past all the rides with a nod to the military, and then imagine the dreadful music that accompanies those rides. Well that’s essentially the gist of ‘The Interrogation’, yet the charm is boundless and this is a most forgiving factor. Indeed there are times when it feels as if The Polyamorous Affair duo are just mucking around with settings on synths with the mic on. ‘Face Control’ is a tacky space-romp, but front-woman Sissy Saint-Marie and producer/vocalist Eddie Chacon just about get away with it.

Nowadays it seems that a criteria for an electro album is that there is a sufficient amount of bleeps. Well with songs like ‘Fashion’, The Polyamorous Affair will be sending bleep-fanatics into wild ecstasy. Sissy’s sotto voce vocals are deadly seductive, a horrifying combination over rather naïve synth melodies which could easily be confused for children’s songs. However, there is the alternate concept that there is no need to over-complicate things and sometimes the simplest beats, melodies and harmonies triumph over technical gee-wizzes. The simplicity of the instruments and seductiveness of the vocals hint to bands such as The Teenagers, although The Polyamorous Affair’s subtly may be too much to earn them that Parental Advisory sticker. ‘In Love’ is a particular stand-out track, with the best use of the double vocals in their second album. A sense of travel is emitted in ‘Eastern’, with an exotic and imperial touch. Love song ‘You Are’ is very silly indeed with references to Pink Floyd, gastronomy, religion and chemistry.

Musically don’t expect The Polyamorous Affair to be the next big thing or anything of that type, but they’re a highly enjoyable band who clearly enjoy their work.