- A member of Australia's independent electronic music collective Clan
Analogue, Bleepin' J Squawkins comprises of Ed Leckie and Julian Higginson and together the pair make electronic disco music as if they were time frozen in the early 80's. The duo have a belief and philosophy that 1982 is the future and on thei debut LP, Floppydisco they take a trip back to bring their future to the present.
Right from the beginning with RSVP, Bleeipn' J' Squawkins demonstrate their knack for creating cheesy 80s disco sounds with vocoder vocals (reiterating the song title in full) and drum fills that sound like they've been in one too many 80s cop shows *cough* Miami Vice *cough* *cough*. Minvera Moog (Part 1) tells a fantasy story on top of German disco influenced electronic beats with the dirty fuzz bassline and vocals courtesy of narrator Suzi Catchpole.
Alice Doesn't Know is a deeper and dirtier affair with a druken vocal sample that feels like it's been time stretched too far to make any sense out of. We Are Eclectric shifts time signatures to 12/8 swing time and has a deep dubby feel to it, yet retaining plenty of bounce in its step. Dancing On The Moon brings back frenetic 80s electro arpeggio synth lines and mixes it up with breaky beats and deep male vocal samples. It has a Daft Punk feel to it, as if the Daft ones had taken a trip back in time themselves and returned to show us a wicked synth line.
Over And Out is the first we get to hear one of the Bleepin' boys take to the mic and contribute vocals to the album. In a melancholy and slightly offtune David Byrne kind of way (hey that was fashionable during the 80s!) they sing about broken down relationships and strangely enough drag you down with them. Finally, the close the album off with Rock And Wobble bringing the album to an uplifting and uptempo tip with sampled computer vocals and cheesy synth lines.
Floppydisco is an interesting take on 80s electro and disco. Typically a sound that was famous in the UK and US, Aussies Bleepin' J. Squawkins have taken the theme and made it fun. It is a bit of a fad lately to have an 80s influence in your music - artsts like Sir Drew and Chicken Lips have proofed the 80s electro equation with their albums, but Bleepin' J have created a fun and accessible album yet falls slightly short of the mark as most of the tunes here come off sounding quite similar to one another.