Cut Copy - Zonoscope

Tue 1st Feb, 2011 in Music Reviews

In the lead up to the release of Cut Copy’s third full length record Zonoscope, the band’s label sneaked out a few teasers of the record in online giveaway Where I’m Going and first official single Take Me Over. Following from the ecstatic dance singles off sophomore record In Ghost Colours – check Lights & Music and the decade defining Hearts On Fire – these two bits of Zonoscope offered some curious hints at what was ahead for Cut Copy, with the tunes seemingly more reverent to Fleetwood Mac than a dancefloor. Take Me Over in particular seemed to rattle a few fans with its tropical cruise vibes and cooing vocal harmonies sounding far removed from the widescreen indie-dance of In Ghost Colours and sample-heavy early releases Bright Like Neon Love and I Thought of Numbers.

But as intense as those curveballs may have seemed when first heard before the album’s release, as a whole Zonoscope sparkles as a densely layered electronic epic and it advances Cut Copy’s status as one of the more forward thinking bands in the scene.

Opening with Need You Now, Cut Copy welcome listeners into the headspace of Zonoscope with billowing cosmic synths floating past all sorts of feverish percussion for a six minute epic of a track. It shows the Melbourne trio toying with pacing and atmospherics, alternately bouncing jubilantly and quickly soaring skywards. It also stands out as likely the best vocal performance frontman Dan Whitford has ever given on a Cut Copy track with the characteristically straight-laced singer crooning his heart out on the song’s key refrain “I need you now/To find somehow”.

From there Cut Copy move through the afore-mentioned Take Me Over and Where I’m Going, with the album version of the former stretching out to five-plus minutes complete with an acid-synth breakdown, before getting into some more spaced out electro territory with Pharaohs & Pyramids. It’s a nice change of pace after the guitar-driven jaunt of Where I’m Going which sees the Cutters lads letting loose on their gear with a mountain of sequencers meeting some colliding synth stabs and 808 loops before a would-be Peter Hook bassline takes the tune out. Underneath all that the band have buried some serious pop charm and it doesn’t reveal itself for a couple of attentive listens to Zonoscope, which seems to be indicative of the album as a whole. While Zonoscope isn’t nearly as palatable as their previous work, Cut Copy haven’t forsaken their gift for nailing good hooks, they’ve just skewed them slightly and let fly with their influences, indulging their fascinations with eras gone by.

Take for instance early album favourite Blink and You’ll Miss A Revolution which traverses early ‘90s references like piano house and Manchester’s Hacienda superclub with its nodding ivory plonks and sweat-ready pace. The group sculpt some serious groove from the hissing drums, low-slung bass and buzzing rave whistles but avoid falling into Bez-lite cheese with their own individual stamp on the sound.

Diverging from the rave vibe for a breather, Cut Copy turn to some psychedelic twee with Hanging Onto Every Heartbeat, the looping keyboard patterns of which benefit from the otherwise organic instrumentation featuring xylophones, acoustic guitars and worn-out drum kits.

Zonoscope’s journey culminates in album closer Sun God, a 16 minute monster of a tune, which seems to encapsulate the sonically dexterous theme of the record. Strutting forwards on some stomping beats, Sun God quickly develops into a rock/rave burner Whitford affecting some breathless Bobby Gillespie pomp against some clattering cowbells and guitar riffs before transforming into a sweeping synth-odyssey.

Closing with a 16 minute experiment is a pretty bold move for any act, but it’s a testament to the connection Cut Copy can foster with a listener throughout Zonoscope that one can happily follow the band as the jam out into head-nodding bliss. As the last trails of Sun God echo into the ether, Zonoscope comes to a very grand conclusion, leaving everybody a little breathless as to what’s come before. It’s not easy to pick up on the first intake, but stick with it and Zonoscope will reward with every repeat listen.