The Avalanches are a plunderphonics trio from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia consisting of Robbie Chater, Tony Di Blasi & Andy Szekeres. Their debut Since I Left You in 2000 has since become a landmark for that style of experimental music, with the 2016 sophomore effort Wildflower & the group’s previous full-length We’ll Always Love You towards the end of 2020 receiving similar praise. Almost 6 years later & they’re returning for their 4th studio LP almost a week after former NXT Women’s Champion Indi Hartwell became the new TNA Knockout’s World Champion.
“Together” by Jessy Lanza & Prentiss after the “Bd-R” intro samples “Together Again” by The Famous 5 for a bubblegum bass, speed garage, tech house, utopian virtual, dance-pop, future garage, sound collage, jingles, 2-step & bassline lead single about preserving memories whereas “I Give Everything I Have 2 U” by Loaded Honey after the “Xerox Altalink B8055” interlude embraces a more soulfully jazzy vibe singing about providing it all for this person.
Chillwave, nu-disco, balearic beat, jingles, utopian virtual, chillsynth, deep house & funktronica all collide for the 2nd single “Every Single Weekend” co-produced by Jamie xx singing about the system & of the cost of living leading into “Blue Shadows” by Karen O after the “Friends Forever” interlude sampling “Shadows from Nowhere” by Blue Gas for a 3rd single combining neo-psychedelia, indie pop, chillwave, trip hop & exotica.
“Like Clockwork (Hit by Traffic)” after the “Logoland” intermission chops up a repetitive vocal line Khadija Al Hanafi provides for a minute & a half while “All the Time in the World” by Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo hypnotically sings about letting the world pass through him & his partner. After the “3D Glasses Not Included” intermission, “Vida” by Erick the Architect preceding the “Paradise Island” treads the disco rap waters talking about not needing any new friends while “Unicorn Quest™” dabbles with 16-bit for 43 seconds.
The final single “Far Away” by John Glacier & Khadija Al Hanafi embraces a cross between jungle and liquid drum & bass encapsulating the feeling of a blissful summer evening out in London where it was conceived while the 4th single “Can’t Get Over Losing You” by Portraits of Tracy after the “He Lives in the Old World” interlude experiments with dance-pop, electropop, nu-disco, chillwave, neo-psychedelia, deep house & French house asking if this person would stay by them in the end.
After the “Watch Out! It’s Cloudy” interlude, “Highfield” by Panda Bear psychedelically sings about there being nothing left to do now that the story’s been told while “Under Yr Power” after the “El Dorado TV Spot” skit passionately confronts someone over whether or not they’re being played with & making it clear they won’t be consumed by their spell. “1 More Fantasy” by Carly Simon” after the “SUV Heaven” intermission glossily sings about not wanting to say “I love you” towards any fake relationship just before the “Breakout Corporate Tag” intermission.
“Magic Wand” by Barry Can’t Swim continues the 2nd act of the album describing a love that feels right on time & after the “Superfun!™ TV Spot” skit parodying a video game advertisement, the the title track would stick out amongst my personal favorites going for a more soulful vibe instrumentally. “Our Love’s Alive” by Barry Can’t Swim & Suzanne Ciani continues to show off The Avalanches unique approach to sampling after watching a video of Suzanne showing a synthesizer to kids on Sesame Street.
The song “Total Recall” by Faith No More’s lead singer Mike Patton takes it back to the 16-bit aesthetics declaring the Superfun! console has been released publicly & asking if people are waiting for Nintendo to make one of their own while “Final Credits” reunites with Loaded Honey to sing about a type of love that can do no good. “The Pavement Lights” by 細野晴臣 spends No Bad Memories’ concluding moments in the form of an outro reminiscent to these guys’ earlier output, especially towards the backend of it.
If I had to pick a favorite of the 3 Avalanches albums they’ve done in the past decade, No Bad Memories has earned that spot behind Since I Left You to become my 2nd favorite in their discography. The eclectic nu-disco, vapor, plunderphonics, UK bass, juke, bubblegum bass, speed garage, tech house, utopian virtual, dance-pop, future garage, sound collage, jingles, 2-step, bassline, chillwave, balearic beat, utopian virtual, chillsynth, deep house, funktronica, jungle, liquid drum & bass, electropop, neo-psychedelia and French house production feels like a testament to their inventiveness a quarter of a century later in the midst of conveying the role advertising plays in our memories.
Score: 4.5/5
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