Crooker: “But we really do prefer playing with more traditional bands. It all goes back to songwriting. You’re playing with bands who take an interest in the craft of writing songs. And when you play these club nights, you’re playing to an audience who are used to all the songs being about tits and ass.”
Not that Freezepop are averse to being a little risqué. One of the more amusing tracks on the new disc is the Drinkwater-sung “Do You Like My Wang?”, which toys with two quite different notions of “equipment.” But it’s a minor detour on a disc that frames lyrics about the usual pop-song fare: romantic insecurity in “Thought Balloon,” romantic release in “Frontload,” hitting the club circuit in “Afterparty.” And though the synth-based arrangements give a chill to the overall tone of the album, Freezepop are by no means an experiment in Kraftwerking man/machine automation. The synths, sequencers, and slippery electronic beats in “Pop Music Is Not a Crime” may put up a cold front, but it’s by no means impenetrable, especially since the band have moved beyond the QY-70 to incorporate more sophisticated synths and sequencers. “We used real drums this time,” Drinkwater boasts — samples of real drums, that is. It’s music that melts in your mouth but not in your hands.
What with the cool allure of Jussi’s voice and the resolve of Crooker and Drinkwater to place hooks before novelty, Freezepop have gained a sizable following over the past half-dozen years. But credit also the exposure they’ve gotten through video games. Freezepop tunes have graced Amplitude, Dance Dance Revolution, and, yes, Guitar Hero I and II. “It’s great,” says Drinkwater. “You don’t lose the rights to anything, and suddenly you have two and a half million copies of your song in kids’ laps. It couldn’t be a better situation for us. Now we can go play a show out of town and there will be 500 people there.”
“Yeah,” Crooker pipes up. “And they bring their video games for us to autograph.”
But the real benefit for Freezepop has come in on-line sales, particularly of the Guitar Hero II track “Less Talk More Rokk,” which the band members say has been selling at a clip of 1000 a week for the past six months. Nothing ironic about that.
FREEZEPOP + AD FRANK | Middle East downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge | September 27 | 617.864.EAST
