CD Reviews

The Big Pink | Future This

4AD (2012)

By DAN WEISS | January 10, 2012

2.5 Stars

The Big Pink's name is forgettable and their sound is too generic to describe. Sneering electronic dance-rock heavy on synths and slowed-down '90s rave beats? They might as well be the Klaxons. On their 2009 debut these elements didn't coalesce into the catchy manna that justifies such vaguely eclectic corporate rock. And its sole success was a sexist jingle that swaggers like a bigger hit than it actually was. But "Dominos" was the best kind of unwarranted ear candy, and it won deserving ripostes from both Nicki Minaj (sampled on "Girls Fall like Dominos") and Lana Del Rey (who alluded to it and flipped the sex in "Lolyta"). Perhaps this was a tongue-in-cheek way of acknowledging its catchiness, despite being produced by a scum factory. This scum factory wisely takes no chances on the follow-up, whose very opener, "Stay Gold," isn't the only tune here you can sing "Dominos" over. The Laurie Anderson-sampling (!) "Hit the Ground (Superman)" is even more shamelessly fun, and Future This is ultimately more melodic than its laborious predecessor. But around the "ballads" in the second half, you start longing for a point.

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