Looper, The Geometrid (sub pop)

by Erin Hucke

Looper have climbed out of the treehouse and blasted into their new home -- The Geometrid. What's a Geometrid, you ask? It's a spacestation. It's something that Looper and a lot of other people had imagined would exist in the year 2000. But Looper will tell you more about those technological predictions that never came true in "Tomorrow's World."

For the most part, The Geometrid examines how technology is taking us into a new world that is progressively breaking down into an ever-more faceted existence.

Looper's debut album, Up A Tree was an intimate portrait of Stuart and Karn David's storybook life. A timid, but attractive effort, Looper delicately told us the details of their simple life. There is a purity to it. Up A Tree is green. The album was bookended by laughing children.

They've maintained the delicacy and carefulness Up A Tree had with "Modem Song" and "These Things." But while The Geometrid attempts a theme, it lacks the cohesiveness and consistent melodies that were woven into their first album. Don't get me wrong, The Geometrid has some great songs, but it gets sidetracked very easily. "Uncle Ray" and "PuddleMonkey" divert your attention from the technological theme. (Filler, perhaps?) And though "Money Hair" is a great optimistic romp, it makes little sense to include in this collection. But these songs do have energy and are among Looper's most ambitious to date.

It's unfortunate that the theme of The Geometrid was underdeveloped, because this record could have been better. It should have been great.

Visit Looper's futuristic home in cyberspace: http://www.geometrid.co.uk

Order the record from Sub Pop: http://www.subpop.com

Issue 2, July 2000 | next article