In an era of mash-ups and cross-genre collaborations, the most alarming genre erosion for staunch rockers must be the collapsing stigma between electronic dance music and traditional rock. With post-punk icon Mark E. Smith (the Fall) and Jan St. Wenner and Andi Toma of Mouse on Mars, Von Sudenfeld is another symptom of that collapse. The result is dance music, albeit harsher and more chaotic than anything the Mouse on Mars duo has done previously and catchier than anything in the Fall catalog.
From the bumping beats and DJ boasts on “Flooded” to the stuttering synths and heavily manipulated vocals on “The Young and Faceless,” Smith brings out the most aggressive tendencies underlying the Mouse on Mars aesthetic as he leers and slurs over grinding beats and tangles of noise and melody. Along the way, there are some genuine surprises, from a faux-Hawaiian crooner (“Dear Dead Friends”) and a delta blues mutation (“Chicken Yiamas”), but most of the album thrives on the contrast between St. Wenner and Toma’s meticulous production and Smith’s off-center murmurs.
Despite its hard edges, Tromatic Reflexxions is undeniably a pop album, and fans of the Fall will be disappointed to hear Smith coo and croon over the ping-pongy synths and monstrously catchy synth lines of “The Rhino.” That said, Smith puts a human face on Mouse on Mars’s often-inscrutable genius, providing them with a focal point that reins them in and puts one more nail in the coffin of guitar rock.
– Matt Fink
(Domino)