Stereo Total

Stereo Total

(Bobsled)

By Sarah Zupko

PopMatters Editor & Publisher

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It’s getting ridiculous how much good music is emanating from the loungecore movement. What once had become a vapid and uninteresting genre has been re-invigorated by a procession of wonderfully talented groups—Stereolab, Combustible Edison, St. Etienne—that have brought a new playfulness and a more sophisticated musical palette into the lounge fold. Now comes Berlin’s Stereo Total to join the fray and judging from their stateside debut, they are one of the finest lounge-pop ensembles around. A truly international band whose members hail from France, Bohemia, Italy, and Germany, Stereo Total combines all these cultures with songs sung in numerous languages and music that draws from traditional pop, easy listening, disco, and electronica. There’s the goofy but right-on “Dactylo Rock,” with a typewriter as the rhythm track and a Hawaiian guitar accompanied by a coy German vocal and “Ushilo Sugata Ga Kilei,” a nutty synth pop song sung in Japanese just for kicks. This is one of those decadently fun albums that is perfect for a cocktail party or just cheering you up from your bluest of moods.

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