A veteran of disco acts like Fun City, and rough rockers Die Monster Die!, Alice Cohen is now making her own unique kind of post-punk. This is music which blends New Wave elements, with flashes of Art Rock to serve up a cocktail of smart pop. Archaeology is her new one and it's full of charming stuff.
While the bracing "Curtain Call" is clipped Eighties synth-pop, the more radio-friendly "Ice Queen" is closer to mid-period Suzanne Vega or Jane Siberry. Elsewhere, the languid "Highways of LA" is West Coast pop but stretched out on an electro-pop bed, while the title track is smartly-rendered balladry with a seasoning from contemporary interations of what synth-rock can be.
For an album which is remarkably iconoclastic, Archaeology is pretty accessible. This is very much Art Rock which owes a debt to Laurie Anderson, and even Joni Mitchell, but it's still catchy and easy to embrace. Alice Cohen's smart renderings of pop, flavored with a kind of retro sense of New Wave forms, makes up a really pleasant album.
Archaeology by Alice Cohen is out today. Details below, or via her official website.
[Photo: Alice Teeple]