The Mysterious Poufs - Wnrttrotmpr

All Music Guide

Mysterious Poufs further indie's 21st century electrofetish on Wnrttrotmpr, their second effort. The album begins with glitches and random pong blips, establishing its keyboards 'n' PC motif. But the brief intro's proclamation "Now for something equally annoying" is more prophetic. Mysterious Poufs they seem to be a duo have no use for the sudden and hip indie electronic genre's penchant for deploying seriousness in a bid for legitimacy. They'd rather skewer the scene from a snarky perch atop the very building blocks that make the music work. "Poop Music Á la Mode" is a litany of electronic music styles muttered over chilly synths ("Techno", a female voice intones. "Digital hardcore…"), while "Come in and Get Stuff" recuts dreary Depeche Mode, and "BSide Love" seems to run dream pop through a Macintosh. When the Poufs want to, they can access the sexualized side of the music. Even though it seems like a puton, "ByeBye Sky High I.Q. [Sexy Results] features deconstructed Peaches percus...sion and burble. Elsewhere, vintage video game explosions become a melodic loop over brittle acoustic plucks, surging synths, and disembodied moans, suggesting the aural curio that would emit from the tiny speaker of a bizarre art installation. Though stuff like this seems like filler, it contributes to Wnrttrotmpr's overall sarcasm. With hushed English/French lyrics that sound suggestive but say little, and banks of synths and drum programs ticking off in the background, the album sounds more like an exercise of "because we can" than a statement of what's to come. This is not to suggest that the manufactured melodrama of Mysterious Poufs' peers is the way to be in the 21st century. It just means that the duo doesn't surround their wryness with enough songcraft to make much of Wnrttrotmpr stand out. Although, ending with a rambling 12minute synthesizer opus and naming it "Like the Cleaning of a House [It Never Ends]" is a nice summation of what the cynical intro started. - Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide Read more Less