Tanlines - Settings

Label: True Panther Sounds Release date: 08/03/10 Website: http://www.myspace.com/tanlinestheband Brooklyn production duo Tanlines have promised that their sound will be “calypso disco electro music for various kinds of sex’. How will ‘Settings’, their debut release, make good on this promise? With the duo involved in a variety of acts such as Professor Murder, Brothers and Don Caballero and having supported everyone from The XX to Micachu and the Shapes via Crystal Fighters, they certainly have a wide-ranging sound that incorporates many different influences to create a widescaping vision of beats, synths and hooks. ‘Reinfo’ starts with a standard ambient electro beat, albeit with a pleasant samba undercurrent, and takes around 1 minute and 40 seconds to really get going and burst in to life. Before this it may have seemed background music but soon really grabs you. Experimental but never pretentious and always retaining a pop edge, it has a Daft Punk vibe to it and would be a real dancefloor filler. The two-piece show off a more rounded sound on ‘Real Life’ where some buoyant vocals dominate the track, with a few nods in the direction of We Have Band, showing that this is modern-day club music. ‘Three Trees’ keyboards are inspiring and the outro is particularly jaunty. The calypso influences that the two-piece are so proud of also lifts their sound to a more inviting place, especially on ‘Bees’, a real burst of energy and a colourful racket. The glowstick phenomenon may have finally died but Tanlines are the perfect band to brighten up a night out. With six songs that are experimental and challenging yet never less than alluring, Tanlines have found the right ‘Settings’ for their sound on this release (sorry, couldn’t resist…). What say you on this? Sound off in our Fourum!