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Vapor Transmission
12/05/2000 1:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
S.L. Duff
If youÆve been scouring the CD racks and the online stores in an attempt to compile all of your favorite æ80s synth pop favorites, it can get frustrating. There always seems to be one you canÆt quite find, then when you think youÆve got it all together, you remember you left out "AliceÆs House" by the Psychedelic Furs. Well, there is an easier way to assemble the ideal soundtrack for the John Hughes film in your mind; simply put on this all-new collection by Orgy!
You will remember the quintet as the first band signed to KornÆs Reprise Records subsidiary, Elementree, and the guys who came right outta nowhere with a smash hit cover of the New Order classic "Blue Monday." On this, their second album, the guys donÆt bother with a cover from MTV Decade-One, theyÆve already established their modus operandi and are more interested in creating their own (re)-interpretation of synth-popÆs golden age. That, essentially, is the beauty of Orgy. TheyÆve taken the big electric beat and icy melodies of æ80s post-punk Euro dance and welded it to thickly processed metallic rhythm guitars and wildly sampled and re-sampled synth sounds. After each bombastic intro, one is almost caught off guard when vocalist Jay Gordon doesnÆt break into "Shout" by Tears For Fears or "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode.
Gordon seems to have an endless supply of overblown yet repetitive choruses, such as this one from the slow-groover "Eva:" "Take this gift from me, hold it deep in mind, forever and never let this go." Repeat four times. Gordon delivers, true to the style, with a slightly reserved dramatic flair that has no room for irony. They are nothing if not unique in todayÆs climate. The bands that seemingly share the most with them--the industrial metallists who typically belt out one æ80s cover per album--are obviously most moved by latter-day dancehall brooders such as Trent Reznor or Marilyn Manson, but Orgy has gone back to the roots. Undoubtedly this rings familiar and true to many of their fans, who grew up with MTV constantly playing in the background and their older sisters crying their eyes out at a Cure show. As smart as that is, Orgy doesnÆt sound calculated. They sound like they mean it.
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