There really is no messing around on Lazerians, the latest release from Carlow brother and sister pairing and electronic jam factory The Holy Roman Army. Song titles like ‘Perfect Beginning’ (Track one) and ‘Electricity’ (Track two) let us know exactly where we stand and – true to the words on the sleeve – the remainder of the record is all about precision and magnetism.
At 26 minutes long, Lazerians is less a fully-fledged album, and more a compilation created from sessions for the duo’s forthcoming long-player, due out in spring 2012… although you could have fooled us. Not only are there enough hooks and decoys on here to justify a full record, the eight-tracker has a well-crafted flow, making it remarkably easy on the ear.
When The Holy Roman Army last crossed our path, it was for the dreamy, cover-heavy EP Desecrations. Before that, there was debut album How The Light Gets In, which received rave reviews across the board. Lazerians is somehow sweeter and wilder at the same time (on the aforementioned ‘Electricity’, it’s damn near tribal). The childlike ‘Electricity’ mixes clanging electronica with classical flourishes, while ‘Give Up’ is particularly delicate to start, before it spirals into a rumba-worthy horn-led dance breakdown.
For all these welcome surprises, the songs on Lazerians still fit neatly into The Holy Roman Army’s self-made genre of “post-most-things”. The woozy trumpet on the 50-second ‘Afternoon Sleepers’ would be right at home on a lounge record, while the ceremonious ‘Buggin’ feels like repackaged math-rock. Chris Coffey’s muffled croon can’t quite compete with sis Laura’s chart-ready vocals, but both are invaluable to The Holy Roman Army sound, which seems to be eternally on the brink of becoming either too pretty or too industrial but crucially succumbs to neither temptation.
The extraordinary thing about Lazerians is that it feels unconditionally cheerful – The Holy Roman Army are one of the few acts capable of crafting edgy electronica that’s never plodding or moody. Here’s more good news – it’s available to download from theholyromanarmy.bandcamp.com for the price of your choice. Make it a good one.