Back in the day, synth pop was often a haven for bleakness and shadows with the primitive technologies powering the genre often accused of being responsible for the tall walls that surrounded those who chose this as the output for their musical creativity. A lot of time has passed since then and the square cornered darkness of the dancefloor has added its own stylistic oppression to an already rigidly defined genre.
That, however, does not make “Jupiterz” by Estonian trio I Wear* Experiment a depressing listening experience. It is true that the rigid sequencing does close in the walls quickly with even the soft voice of Johanna Eenma providing little more than occasional sunshine on the journey to the trio’s dystopian musical destination but there is more hiding in the shadows of all those marching ones and zeroes. That something extra is the simple determination to give a song a true direction and “Dogs” is the best example of this amongst these six songs.
Any band that exudes energy and direction will always be fine with me and I Wear* Experiment, in their own square cornered way, do just that.