Release Date: March 1, 2011
Art vs. Science are a band that formed after Dan McNamee attended a Daft Punk concert and convinced his long time friends and band mates Jim Finn and Dan Williams to start an electronic band in 2008. Since then, Art vs. Science have released eight singles and EPs in Australia and have just dropped their first album, The Experiment, this year.
The Experiment is a mix between a bunch of electronic influences as well as some funky ones from left field. The album is mostly all electronic instruments with heavy edited vocals like Daft Punk’s “Harder, Faster, Stronger” although there are some parts in which the band sounds similar to Battles or even Rob Zombie. Because of this strange and unique sound and style that Art vs. Science has, some songs excel in their originality while others fall flat and are simply annoying and headache-inducing.
The first half of the album is the cheesy and cheeky part. Songs like “Higher” and “Finally See Our Way” could make you feel a little embarrassed for listening to them because of their over-the-top style. But when “Magic Fountain” starts, you hear the absurd lyrics: “In the beginning there was a fountain/But it wasn’t just any fountain/It was a fountain of light/It was a fountain of truth/It was a fountain of dreams/It was a fountain of youth/It was a magic fountain” and then a semi-dubstep wobble (think SebastiAn on his Smoking Kills EP) that actually fits the style and is extremely tasteful and danceable.
It is during this song that Art vs. Science lay off the vocals, do heavy electronic work and give the listener time to soak up their talent, which is their unique take on electronic club music done in a funny yet danceable way. “Magic Fountain” has a buildup and a breaking point just like any DJ in a club does on a Friday night, but when Art vs. Science do it, you don’t mind if the technique is old, because they did it with some originality for once.
After this point, the album starts to pick up and show some diversity. “With Thoughts” is an indie rock song with supplemental electro added in, reminiscent of MGMT or Empire of the Sun. The rest of The Experiment’s slow songs simply fail. It sounds like when Art vs. Science tried to write lyrics and make a whole, cohesive song that it went wrong. Songs like “Finally See Our Way” and “New World Order” drag along and come off as preachy. At the same time, songs like “Bumblebee” that contain just the title word repeated over and over through different vocal filters has a pulsing, driving beat that is extremely fun to listen to.
The songs where Art vs. Science let it all go and “freak out” are their strongest. The vocals on “Bumblebee” are slurred, gurgled and morphed ever which-way with electronics, and it works. It’s the kind of song that, after taking some random pill at a sweaty summer music festival, you’d be kicking mud around as you’re dancing to it and love every minute of it.
Art vs. Science may be a pop band that shouldn’t have the label. They have potential to go all sorts of directions but seem extremely confined by what seems to be an intention of writing only pop songs. If they let go completely, they could find a whole new branch of fans that could enjoy them.
Art vs. Science The Experiment Tracklist:
- “Finally See Our Way”
- “Take a Look at Your Face”
- “A.I.M. Fire!”
- “Higher”
- “Magic Fountain”
- “With Thoughts”
- “Meteor (I Feel Fine)”
- “Rain Dance”
- “Sledgehammer”
- “New World Order”
- “Bumblebee”
- “Heavy Night”
- “Before You Came to This Place”
