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the pinker tones will force you to dance at wand point . image by ventura mendoza. creative commons 2.0.

or maybe you have, in which case, hats off.

but if you haven’t, allow me to introduce them. ladies & gentlemen, i give you the pinker tones, barcelona’s answer to daft punk. in many ways, the pinker tones will already feel familiar: they are a electronic duo, who enjoy wrapping their music in the enigma of bizarre costume, and use synthesized political samples to critique contemporary culture. i don’t know if the electro-duo is the boy band of western europe (as in basement jaxx, simian mobile disco, and orbital also have a stake in the two man techno genre) but as long as it continues to work, i have no complaints.

like their french cousins (justice, daft punk, les rhytmes digitales) the pinker tones keep the bpm below 130, so there’s nothing really hard here, just some light, smart house music. but where the french electro scene can often feel like the same old, same old, the pinker tones are kings of reinvention, not sticking with a formula, but moving around a lot. they also almost always avoid the robot-synthesizer voice, which has become the emphysema of otherwise good electro. when they do use it, as in “S.E.X.Y. R.O.B.O.T” it’s ironic yet dynamic making the track feel fresh rather than canned.

it’s not like the pinker tones aren’t a big deal. they are. they have “made it” in europe, and are threatening in the u.s. as we speak. this summer, they are touring as part of the warped tour. which might be the smartest thing they’ve ever done, or a waste of time. i’m leaning towards the latter.

what the pinker tones need to do, is get on a tour with someone like Girl Talk, lcd soundsytem or dan deacon. hell, i think they’d make a great dance-punk/hipster ticket with crystal castles, who i saw play in philly. in short, they’d do well reaching the niche electronica community in the u.s. rather than trying to convert rock lovers at the warped tour. their music really isn’t aggressive enough to bring hardcore rockers into the electronica fold.

my only disappointment is that i want to see these guys, I will have to brave the wanna-be’s and emo punks of the warped tour to see them.

but don’t let their booking decision dissuade you from approaching the pinker tones with a sense of awe. their music is fucking outstanding; crisp, polished, engaging, and diverse, demonstrating a host of digital music making fluency.

it sounds good, it dances better, and it’ll get stuck in your head. which is everything you want from good house music anyhow.

videos

“Karma Hunters”

million colour revolution

S.E.X.Y. R.O.B.O.T