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| Sputnikmusic |
 Simian Mobile Disco bring the party. Hell, Simian Mobile Disco are the bloody party, and it’s not just in the name – just take a look at that guest list: Gossip’s Beth Ditto, Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor and Jamie Lidell, Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys, electropsych duo Telepathe, yada yada yada. This is just as about as incestuously star-studded as a dance album gets, which’ll tell you pretty much all you’ll ever need to know about SMD’s current place in the pantheon of cool; verdict: shit hot. For Both James Ford and Jas Shaw, the personas behind the Simian’s uncompromising brand of head spinning electro, Temporary Pleasure finds them both standing above a scene on its knees, one thirsting for a further dose of the blitzkrieg that was 2007’s Attack Sustain Decay Release which pretty much baptized their existence alongside Justice and Digitalism. Fast forward two years, and the question is how fresh can the pioneers of fresh be when everyone else has caught up to your game? A: Vocals. And a hell of a lot of them.If the tracklisting didn’t give it away, Rhys’ opening spot on opener “Cream Dream,” certainly does as he warps between a reverbed choral call of “Creeaaammm Dreaammmm” and half spoken, half sung verses of lyrical absurdity over a hyper realized 80s throwback beat that’s about as far removed from the traditional Simian sound as possible. It’s a statement as much as it’s a song, a “hey, look what we can do”, sliding right in between the engraving of pop culture that Temporary Pleasure reifies, sacrificing quality for hip points, but working nonetheless. Lead single “Audacity of Huge,” follows in a similar vein, with Yeasayer’s Chris Keating lending his best electro-cum-club vocal impression to the track’s playful collection of stripped down microbeats and coming off as positively, well… competent. As an indication of Pleasure’s sound, it’s an interesting turn, if only because its one that never quite hits the musical highs that it could, while still remaining gripping thanks to the originality of it’s musical turbulence. This isn’t to say that it doesn’t occasionally strike gold, as it does with “Cruel Intentions”, a track which finds Ditto literally strutting her way down the boardwalk of what may as well be a song handcrafted just for her too-cool-to-give-damn delivery of “call me up/ we’ll hang out/ I’m down for whatever”....full text |
| Nme |
| Welcome to tomorrow. Syrian techno is the new Afro-pop, robots are the new humans, all new guitars come complete with an in-built MicroKorg and Simian Mobile Disco are still making dance music for people who don’t like dance music. They may be ace on paper – when rampant eclecticism is a matter of course for our finest young stars, what’s not to love about the idea of one of indie’s biggest producers teaming up with his long-time muso muse to collectively unleash their inner rave? – but it’s a sad truism that no matter how hard they try, SMD will always be slightly bumpipe. Hell, the overriding emotion ‘Temporary Pleasure’ leaves you with is wanting to buy some aesthetically pleasing buffed chrome kitchenware. And that’s not good. But try hard they do. The guestlist takes in Yeasayer’s Chris Keating and Rent-A-Croon himself Gruff Rhys through to the likes of Jamie Lidell and Telepathe, but it speaks volumes that one of the best songs, ‘10,000 Horses Can’t Be Wrong’ is little more than a few minimal blips and beeps and a playful melody that clambers all over the bassline. In a record characterised by a lack of character it feels like a crisp, seductive interlude into a world where SMD are ice-kings of the People’s Republic Of Synthtania rather than two blokes who met at uni. It’s a vodka and cranberry (except with liquid nitrogen instead of vodka and puréed Lady Gaga instead of cranberry juice) in an album of warm, weak lagerpiss, and is one of the few moments of standout awesomeness....full text |
| Prettymuchamazing |
| Simian Mobile Disco offer up their sophomore studio album with an array of of color, texture and sound. Temporary Pleasure is a veritable smorgasbord. Just as stylized and hook-heavy as you please, with cameos galore. Known for working with artists the likes of the Arctic Monkeys, Klaxons and Peaches, James Ford bolsters his production skills to ’staggering’ heights here. At first you’re all geared up for some sort of explosion. There’s this infinitesimal build-up that keeps going until you’re squirming in your seat, ready for the pay-off. Remember LCD Soundsystem’s “Get Innocuous”? There’s this incredible lead into such an luxuriant crescendo of disco dance rock that it literally explodes into first rate club boogie (that word’s disagreeable silliness aside, it means what it means) that has you moving non-stop in appreciation of it’s utter danceability. And Temporary Pleasures’ opening track “Cream Team” deceptively primes you to anticipate the equal possibility for such an occurrence. So you’re ready to be up out of your damn seat....full text |
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