The average span of time between Broadcast albums is three years — an ample amount of time to tour, rest, write new songs, play with their sound and record. And with each new release comes a whole new approach to performing their psychedelic, surrealist pop music.

The Birmingham group's first album, Work and Non Work was, technically, a singles album, but it showed promise of great talent from a band in its infancy. Songs like "The Book Lovers" and "Living Room" sounded like a more raw version of Stereolab, with less emphasis on bossanova and more attention given to creepy atmosphere.

The follow-up, The Noise Made by People was a more consistent affair, each of the songs fitting in better in the context of an album, rather than a collection of singles. The production was better, the moogs were louder and the drums were much heavier on the reverb. It most closely approximated what it would sound like if John Barry were to start a rock band.

Their latest release, haha Sound, is another step forward for the British trio. Where Noise's sound had more jagged edges, haha is a much dreamier affair, upping the reverb even more and wrapping everything in a heady gauze of sound. Where analog synths once dictated the sound, Broadcast's newest creation is much more reliant on white noise and woozy samples, which, strangely enough, add a sense of childlike melodicism to the mix.

The first single, "Pendulum" is the track most like the Broadcast of old — a dissonant synth riff drives this song as vocalist Trish Keenan chants a metaphoric, staccato verse comparing love to gravity. It's one of the coolest sounding singles you'll hear, but certainly not the most accessible, which may prevent it from charting in the UK.

"Before We Begin" is a lushly arranged love ballad that would have been a more obvious single choice, but Broadcast were never ones to favor hit potential over artistic integrity. "Man is Not a Bird" is a beautiful, yet subtle tune that ends in a Carl Stalling-like exercise in odd percussion.

The best song on the album, "Winter Now" combines an unsettling sample with a pretty, minor key melody, resulting in a peculiarly gorgeous song. As on most of the other songs on the album, Keenan sings of relationships. The album, as a whole, deals with the bittersweetness of love, without getting too precious or mawkish.

It could be another three years before we hear another Broadcast album, but it may just take that long for this album to leave your stereo.

Similar Albums:
Movietone - The Blossom Filled Streets
Stereolab - Dots and Loops
Pram - Dark Island

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Jeff Terich
03.17.2004