We fade from black into a vast, futuristic cityscape at night. Behind a ravaged and war torn suburbia sit rows of skyscrapers, lit with mysterious blue neon’s. Suddenly a helicopter swoops into shot, the music rises as it reveals our protagonist sat staring out of the window, loading his gun and preparing for battle... Initially, Last days on earth is like a musical score to a 1980s action sci-fi flick, perhaps with Kurt Russell in the lead. It sometimes feels distinctly familiar and brings back memories of watching VHS tapes of dodgy sci-fi movies and the wobbly synth laden soundtracks that accompany them.
Unfortunately, this heady nostalgia trip is shattered by a large peppering of slightly uncomfortable Euro Synth Pop. The Beach is more science class than science fiction. Offering cheesy surf guitars and swirly keyboard stabs. It’s a steady decline from here on. Solar Eclipse is the first time we hear vocals, disguised with a vocoder it sounds like a track Daft Punk would be embarrassed to release, lyrically and sonically it’s a burden the album can really do without. Apollo has potential and is a good listen until that surf guitar returns with its accomplice, the clichéd sci-fi “whooshing noise”.
When Pow! Pow! get it right its like listening to a movie score by Vangelis and Kraftwerk, the enjoyment is marred by the sudden realisation that the majority sounds like a rearrangement of music you would find on an Open University science video.
4/10
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