Proving that there is still more to mine in that deep seam of robot funk that the late eighties left deeply buried in the crust of Planet Earth are Austin’s The Vapor Caves with the album “Feel Yourself” having more than enough production patina to make everyone put on their retro heels and time travel to the dance floor and FM radio of the days when all hair was big hair.
Fortunately, The Vapor Caves are more than just another revivalist band with all the options ticked for, despite keeping well within the confines of the finger snapping style of super cool robot funk, they have an attitude that is much more modern their style might initially suggest. That said, there are, for example, enough Prince influences to be found in “Bitch To The Boys” and enough ironic bounce through the opportunism of those times infused into “OLFKTOL” to surely raise a smile or three amongst fans of such sounds.
However, I think that the true appeal of this album lies not in the robotic retro conformity and obvious love for the sound of those past times that The Vapor Caves have but in the wry, and rather modern, viewpoints that are added by those sneakily minimalist lyrics. So, all in all, “Feel Yourself” turns out to be smarter than a designer suit and might even make you buy an eighties Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz just to provide the correct ambience for proper enjoyment.
Best song? “Bitch To The Boys”.
The verdict? Retro cool strikes forward.