There was a golden age of “synth” music that reached an apex with the 1982 release of the beautiful soundtrack to “Blade Runner.” Since that age regrettably passed, only on rare occasions have bands re-introduced the warm electronic hum of the synthesizer to the current music scene.
A new champion has arisen: British rock band Hefner.
The band’s latest album, “Dead Media,” starts with a track by the same name that unapologetically fills the ears with a loud synthesizer picking out two chords note by note. The brash sound is a shock at first, but after the vocals and other harmonizing synths kick in, the song achieves aural euphoria.
On the band’s Web site, www.hefnet.com, lead singer Darren Hayman states, “I’m sure heaven sounds like this.”
Though the title “Dead Media” works well with the band’s appropriation of forgotten musical technologies, the album’s songs deal more with looking for connection and reminiscing about good times. “China Crisis” incorporates the desire for love and a nostalgia of past opportunity in the lines: “It’s not the walk that I take through the park to her place / It’s the breath she takes in between the words her mouth makes. / Oh curse my mind for not ceasing my mouth when the moment was perfect.”
While the electronics have a prevailing influence through the album’s 15 tracks, the second song, “Trouble Kid,” returns to more comfortable roots with a basic marching rock beat — though the solo in the middle is all synth. This track is just stupid pop, but it’s fun.
Actually, there’s a good deal of silly, but delightful pop on “Dead Media.” “The King of Summer” has the dirty feel of a Rolling Stones’ song — the kind of tune sung with a cockily curled lip. “Half a Life,” a boyish lament, continues for more than four minutes repeating the main lyric “Life without my sweetheart is only half a life,” over and over. But songs such as “The Nights Are Long” and “Waking Up To You” break through their simple pop sound and express real feelings of loss and hope — with head-bobbin’ beats.
Hefner matches the visual presentation of their CD to the sounds contained on it. The back cover and liner notes of “Dead Media” boast drawings of various synthesizers from the Roland, Korg and Moog companies. The text in the liner notes is not devoted to lyrics, which can be found on the Web site, but is instead occupied by a lengthy discussion of the various microphones and machines the band used during recording. What geeks. Hayman doesn’t expect his new love affair with synthesizers to end. On the Web site, he states they will remain a part of the band’s future projects. Hooray!