By Kevin Scott
The opening track to Pillar Point's eponymous debut arrives with something of a synthesised statement. All distorted chords and sampled vocals, sounding not a million miles from MGMT, this is sizzling electro-pop.
Scott Reitherman, the Seattle-based San-Franciscan behind the project, is certainly a competent tunesmith, with chirpy melodies backing the multi-layered electronic track. This strength of melody is no doubt down to Reitherman's past involvement with indie-pop band Throw Me the Statue. With said strong melody, combined with a focus on emotion, the markers of influence on Pillar Point, stop at Hot Chip by way of the New Romantics. Working with long-time collaborator Charlie Smith on production duties, the pair work effectively but the overall result lacks the power required for it to really take hold.
The album peaks early on, with 'Eyeballs' really gripping, driven by a riveting chorus and infectious melodic "The lift goes all the way down / and there's no control / we're all just faces in the rain," proving highlighting Reitherman's lyrical charm. Musically, there's a definite nod here to early Depeche Mode, and similarly dark themes are explored throughout. However, the strength of the opening couple of tracks only serves to emphasise a relative disappointment with what follows.
'Cherry' dives further back in time, taking its cue from Krautrock. it's an intelligently put together track with the emphasis on huge chords, though in this instance the track peaks before the vocal kicks in and it adopts a Hot Chip-style chorus. Indeed, it's when Reitherman delves far back into the electronic past, like the kicking keys on 'Touch' that it's easier to engage with the album.
There's enough variation to maintain interest, though tracks like 'Black Hole' are largely forgettable. The issue is that there is so much of this style of electronic synth-pop being released that standards across an entire forty minutes need to be consistently high. In this instance, Reitherman proves he has what it takes to do that, but has fallen just short.
