It's always a mark of age setting in when you switch on the television and everyone you see is younger than you. I'm not at the point (thankfully) where this includes politicians (nor can I remember their fathers) but I have reached the stage now where it is not unusual for half a football team to be not only younger than me, but a good few years younger. And in the case of Cajun Dance Party, the band members are about the age of my sister, a full five years behind me. Apparently such references piss off the band. So apologies for that. 'Colourful Life' comes from their debut album, 'A Colourful Life', and is a youthful (sorry), energetic piece of indie-pop. Guitars are crisp, the drums and hand-claps have a rewarding snap to them, and the broken-chords of the piano tinkle cleanly. The whole product gleams, much like a freshly-laundered shirt. Even Daniel Blumberg's voice has been smoothed out, shorn of the rougher tendencies evident in the demos. It's not particularly revolutionary, but it sounds assured (Bernard Butler's pristine production values certainly help in this case). The lyrics ("So pick up the pace and enjoy the race/because nothingness is nice") display a happy-go-lucky take on the world, indicating that the band maybe have yet to experience some of life's nastier surprises, like rush-hour metro journeys, breathing in sweat and CO2. Or French bureaucracy.
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It is not entirely without originality though, as halfway through, the overdrive switch is thrown and the guitars become crunchy. The orchestra that we hear warming up at the start comes back for the denouement. What sounds like teenage high-jinks fed through a railway station announcement system echo in the background. Reasonably diverting, and worthy of a listen. It's sharp, lively and maybe overly-concerned with appearances, certainly to the detriment of depth. But that, I suppose, is so often the nature of youth (sorry).
www.cajundanceparty.com/
www.myspace.com/cajundanceparty
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