The Polyamorous Affair
Bolshevik Disco
Rating: 1.5/5.0
Manimal Vinyl
A confession: growing up, I despised disco. Not in the "DISCO SUCKS" kind of way that causes grown men to behave the same way around Sister Sledge records as a book burning in 1939 Berlin, just in the way that I couldn't understand it at all and didn't care to. Undoubtedly this was in part inspired by the irritating sludge that the small town discothèque across the street from my childhood apartment pumped in through the windows every night, but fact is it took years and Giorgio Moroder to change my mind to its current state of disco beat adoration. It's rather a pity, then that The Polyamorous Affair's latest outing, Bolshevik Disco, would have vindicated all of my juvenile dislikes.
The husband and wife duo of Eddie Chacon (late of '90s neo-soul singers Charles and Eddie) and Sissy Sainte-Marie produce a sound heavily drawn from early European disco, all simple beats and endlessly beeping synthesizers. And this is not a wholly bad thing- in fact, it's catchy in a processed way, as suited for a dance floor as a shark is to the sea. But frankly, it comes off as dull- the repetitious lyrics (which seem part and parcel of the genre, but don't have to be) come off as strained, while their influences (equal parts Moroder, Gainsbourg and Ladytron) seem less a foundation than a crutch. There's an overarching concept to the album, but the conception of a Soviet-style dance club with guards inspecting faces for entry and fun at gunpoint doesn't ever really take off the ground. Makes for some cool costumes, though, which is probably much more the point.
And the songs themselves- there's high points on Bolshevik Disco, but certainly the cover of Lou Reed's "Satellite of Love" is not one of them. I'm not a purist when it comes to covers, but something should be added- a synthesizer sounding something like a melodica and a bored delivery really just don't enough. "White Hot Magic" and "Fashion" are certainly enough of the zeitgeist, but both come off poorly, the former with a Depeche Mode-aping bassline and the latter with the irritating chant of "Push your fashion to the limit." On the other hand, "You Are" comes up with some interesting back and forth between Chacon and Saint-Marie: "You are my pet, my pound of flesh/ My Kool-aid acid test, my high priestess," even if half of it is swiped from others.
The thing is, Bolshevik Disco is not difficult to listen to and is not offensive in anything but its blandness. And perhaps that's enough for a dance floor- but should it have to be?
by Nathan Kamal