Cygnets
Alone/Together
(Negative Gain)
Canada’s Cygnets have been around for quite a while and it’s especially interesting to note that they have two separate Bandcamp pages. I have no real idea as to why, but all I know is that this record (which releases September 23rd) is featured on a newer account, while a slew of various other records are available on what appears to be an older account. So if you like what you’ve heard here, the band have a ton of music that you’ve likely not heard and should definitely give a listen. Marketed as synth pop, I have to highly disagree with that, as well as the very Bandcamp definition. This isn’t quite just synth pop, as it can meander into a sort of synth-Goth, even reaching into early Cure (yes, I’m talking Pornography realms here) but with more of an eighties wave music approach that meets Depeche Mode and others along the line. You should all know by now that I’m as big of a fan of electronics and wave music as I am metal, Goth and others. Wave is technically a level of electronic, so that appeals to The Grim Lord’s robot ears quite nicely.
Imagine not having heard a single album by the band, but on account of hearing the publicist mention them as wave (Ministry’s With Sympathy is another great example) over social media, you decide to take a chance – because they might just be good and I could always do with more good music in my line of work. Thus when the record began, I was immediately greeted to a familiar eighties’ influenced synth-wave performance and that was a good sign. Then came the waiting game for vocals, followed by massive amounts of perspiration. What kind of approach was I going to be subjected to? Then the frontman finally came in with what I’d consider a heavily Robert Smith influenced vocal style. That will work for me. There are of course others during the New Wave era of music that helped to influence these guys like The Sisters Of Mercy, Depeche Mode, but I’m hearing an awful lot of Smith here which is unfortunately hit or miss with some listeners. That’s fine for me, as I love early Cure as well as some of the later darker albums, like Bloodflowers. Though there’s nothing here quite as morose as that to be found on Alone/Together even though it does seem to stick relatively close to that territory. It just never crosses the fence over into it.
Single “I’m Sorry” sounds like it would have been making waves around the west had we still been living in the eighties, and it gets better every time I listen to it. “Unaffectionate Mistress” sounds like a Depeche Mode cast-off, while “Rogue” reminds me of The Cruxshadows. “We Don’t Want To Be Your Lovers” sounds like it was cut from the same mold as The Cure’s Pornography (which mentioned earlier) and whether or not you want to call them copycats on this one, remember that we still haven’t heard a proper album from The Cure in a good number of years. It’s about as close as we’re going to get, so embrace it. “Heathen Girl” only continues that, making me think that there’s still hope for this kind of music making it back into the mainstream. Or even the brighter sections of the underground. Listen folks, I’d rather listen to this kind of music more than I would anthems about booty shaking, beer and agenda politics. Popular music is in a sad place these days, and while I won’t count out possible political or societal observations here on Alone/Together, but at least there’s a little more substance. That substance comes in the form of tribal mist that takes over “Chrysalis” in which the frontman even changes his vocal style to match that of David Gahan. Again, some might feel that the Canadians are doing a lot of copy & paste here and I couldn’t blame them for feeling that way. Yet if we could just step back for a minute and look at Cygnets as a sort of tribute to all that was great about the eighties wave scene, it soon begins to take on a greater perspective and should find appreciation for it.
While they do throw in modern Euro pop dance-beats and guitar licks into “Mourn” in an effort to possibly reach out to a newer audience, there’s enough old concrete covered on this record to appeal to those of us who still remember that music scene and still retain an appreciation for it. In my opinion, they can dress it up as much as they want, just as long as they don’t kill the formula. I’m not quite sure what they did on other albums, but from what I’ve heard here on Alone/Together, I’ve definitely become interested in that work too and will probably begin to dig for gold. If you’re a fan of the eighties synth-pop, Goth, new wave or whatever you want to call it scene, then you’re more than likely going to find exactly what you’re looking for here. The oddest thing about Alone/Together though, is that if you don’t like one track, you are encouraged to skip it and move on to the next. That’s because nearly every piece has a mind of its own and that to me spells out variety and success. Keep doing what you’re doing gentlemen, because you certainly have my ears with this one.
