City of O.

Three years have passed since the release of Polyester's debut album Earthly Powers (PERMVAC 079 CD/LP). The international press celebrated Polyester as an exciting mixture of Les Rita Mitsouki, cosmic and Kraut rock, and declared them top-notch disco punk newcomers. Several tours in the U.S., Japan and Europe followed as a logical consequence and even Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos and Mr. James Murphy himself quickly became fans of the quartet, which is now reloading with full force on it's Disko B/Schamoni Musik premiere. "The City of Orion," a reproduction of this mystical heavenly body, recreated by man in the Moroccan desert, has been a long-time yearning place for Polly and her three band members and became the major inspiration for the album title. Many of the new songs circulate around the theme of solitude in all it's facets, but everyone who is now thinking of a barely accessible concept album is dead wrong, because also in 2014 the band sparkles in a fountain of unbound punk/new wave/disco energy: This is where early Talking Heads hangs around on a DFA bloc party while Tom Tom Club is jamming with Le Tigre in the background. The opener "Cut Diamond" addresses that special second in which you realize a related chemical composition in your counterpart, and the two instrumentals "City of Orion I & II" are desert music +á la Polyester - the soundtrack for the band's not-yet-realized trip to the origin of their longing. "In My Boots" is Polly's advice for all matters of life: Stay strong in rugged boots - cowgirls stroll easier. Polyester also have one eye on the dancefloor as well, to be verified in "Catrina," a song which is dedicated to the protective patroness of the Day of the Dead in Mexico: A marvelous cold fusion of Italo pop, high energy and '80s funk - surely not the only club hit on this record. City of O. is a brightly glistening album, yet it emanates tranquility and sovereignty at the same time. The best of both worlds in the most beautiful sense of pop.