Neon Neon reviewed
Neon Neon
Stainless Style
(Lex)
The project’s a joke ode to fallen entrepreneuer John DeLorean, but Neon Neon proves Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys is someone who, given the opportunity, can communicate clearly.
In the hands of Rhys and Boom Bip, the Star Wars-referencing “I Told Her On Alderaan” could have been the B-side to Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life.” Modern electro’s a joke anyway, so why not have fun with it? Rhys couldn’t play it straight if his life depended on it, which oddly makes Stainless Style perhaps the only essential album of its genre. Though completely ironic, Neon Neon refrain from winking long enough to put forth some useful ideas, even if the statute of limitations on “Raquel” and “Belfast” elapsed 20 years ago. What keeps the project from total success is its impatience: Not content to focus on 1984, Stainless Style jumps from joke crunk “Trick For Treat” to Euro-disco Madonna (“I Lust U”) to Hotlanta (“Luxury Pool”) without respect to continuity or flow.
— Steve Forstneger
