Review: Blonde Redhead: Penny Sparkle [B-]

Artist: Blonde Redhead

Album: Penny Sparkle

Released: September 2010

Label: 4AD

Genre: Dream Pop / Shoegaze

Purchase date: 01 November 2010

Format: mp3 files

Source: eMusic

The eighth full-length album from these veteran international New York-based indie rockers, Penny Sparkle sees the band take fewer chances and move toward an antiseptic electronic chill-out vibe. While it mostly works, Penny Sparkle lacks the balance between zoning and rocking that their brilliant 2007 album 23 seemed to get perfectly. It's also a move away from their driving, layered, bendy-guitar shoegaze roots (à la My Bloody Valentine) and more toward quieter trippy electronic dream pop (more akin to Beach House). While I appreciate that the band is playing with its sound a bit, it seem to me that Penny Sparkle is an entire album that sounds very much like what I had considered the slower, weaker tracks of 23. It's worth a listen, but if you are expecting the power and resonance of 23, you'll probably be a bit disappointed.

Rating: B-

Listen to "Everything Is Wrong"

Album listing on Amazon

Album no longer available at eMusic