- Bless Fischerspooner for waiting until halfway through their third album to unleash a buzzing analog synth pattern similar to that with which they made their name nearly a decade ago. Title of song: "Amuse Bouche." Meaning of title: a chef's-choice single-bite hors d'oeuvre intended, many times, to prepare the diner for what the kitchen has in store for the evening. Chorus: "Don't look back." Sound: looking back, all right—straight back to "Emerge."
That's not a bad idea. As shown Kiran Sande's recent Fact Magazine survey of electroclash's Top 20 records—not to mention the oddly concurrent issuing of this album alongside new ones by Peaches and DJ Hell—time has been better to the cream of that epoch than even the New York club-goers who loved it as it was happening might have guessed.
Still, "Amuse Bouche" is an anomaly here: Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner have moved onto (ostensibly) bigger things, sound-wise. Entertainment isn't so much electroclash as electro-pop; it's more reminiscent of late-'80s Depeche Mode than, say, The Normal. The sound is big and detailed, no doubt thanks in part to Jeff Saltzman, who's also produced The Killers. And yes, that is a problem—not because of the Killers, per se, but because when you have a sound this like-it-or-not commanding, you really ought to do more with it than Fischerspooner does here. After a half-dozen plays I can barely remember anything without going back and re-listening.
And when I do, I vaguely regret it. "We—we are electric," one chorus proclaims over fritzing keyboards and stern guitar feedback. Gee, guys—are you the future, too? "Money Can't Dance" joins the Pet Shop Boys' "Love Etc." in the current no-shit what-good-is-cash sweepstakes; I'm not entirely certain whether lines such as, "It ain't got no arms / Ain't got no legs / Ain't got no eyes / Ain't got no head," are intended to be funny or not, but we can hope. Or maybe not, because "Money Can't Dance" is followed immediately by "In a Modern World," which sounds like a Thompson Twins outtake—the Thompson Twins, people. Even if I never loved Fischerspooner entirely before, once upon a time I don't think I could ever have accused them of that.
Tracklist 01. The Best Revenge
02. We Are Electric
03. Money Can’t Dance
04. In A Modern World
05. Supply & Demand
06. Amuse Bouche
07. Infidels Of The World Unite
08. Door Train Home
09. Danse en France
10. To The Moon