Alphabeat - Alphabeat

All Music Guide

Before taking the U.K. charts and the poploving blogosphere by storm when it was rejiggered and reissued in 2008, with a clarifying "This is" appended to the title, Alphabeat's debut, originally eponymous and released only in their native Denmark, was one of the most sterling and undersung power pop records of 2007. The differences between the two editions of the album seem, at first blush, fairly cosmetic. Although three perfectly lovely songs ("Ocean Blue," "Into the Jungle," and "The Hours") were swapped out altogether, most of the six which were rerecorded (the indelible "Fascination" was left untouched) bear relatively superficial changes: some additional keyboards here, a tackedon string section there, and a generally beefedup, plusher sound. But the cumulative effect is definitely evident, and it's not necessarily for the best. It's hardly enough of a transformation to render the album unrecognizable after all, the Danish version had plenty of '80sinspired excess to begin with,... and its undeniable pop thrills are, for the most part, undiminished. But some of the delirious scrappiness of the more guitaroriented original version does get lost beneath the layers of synth pop gloss. The spunky "Boyfriend" turns fullon Eurodance, while the charming choral oddity "Rubber Boots/Mackintosh," which distinctly recalls the New Pornographers at their most beautifully idiosyncratic, is reborn as a far more pedestrian synthesizer slow jam, simply titled "Rubber Boots." Though these qualms shouldn't deter the curious from checking out the more widely available This Is Alphabeat which is, indeed, nearly as glorious avowed fans will definitely want to seek out this version, for the three jettisoned tracks if nothing else. - K. Ross Hoffman, All Music Guide Read more Less