 Erasure I must admit I was pretty baffled when I discovered this CD at a record shop, having heard nothing about it beforehand – there I am looking through the import singles and here is an all-Abba cover EP by Erasure (at the time my uncontested favorite band). Regardless of what you think of Erasure, you have to give them props for being so far ahead of the curve in paying homage to Abba, who have only gained real respect in the mainstream press in the past couple of years, thanks to VH1 and movies like Muriel's Wedding. Finally, people can not only admit they like Abba, but the group's stellar songwriting is really being recognized as among the best pop of the 70s. It's so stupid that for years, Abba was perceived as a threat to the rock world because the music was so unabashedly cheesy and well-crafted. Now people seem to understand that Abba was never purporting to be anything by great pop – and for that matter, let it be said now that "Dancing Queen" is more titanic and lasting an achievement than the entire works of Patti Smith and Television combined. And while you're at it, go ahead and combine those two collected works, and take them to the curb with the cat poop and the rest of the trash. So, back to Erasure. The band had always worn the Abba influence on its sleeve, so my initial bafflement was erased within two seconds of putting this disc on – what more perfect a match than Erasure with these Euro-crap classics? Messrs. Bell and Clarke could not have picked more Erasure-esque Abba songs than the four they chose: "Lay All Your Love on Me," "S.O.S.," "Take a Chance on Me," and "Voulez-Vous." And despite the excessive camp factor of the videos that accompanied these songs (Erasure – campy?!?! No way!!!), the camp factor is markedly low on the CD itself. Of course, the songs are all awash in synths, this being 1992 and easily Erasure's most robotic period – but the EP, like most of Erasure's output beyond like 1988, remains pretty fresh today because while Erasure always sounds dated, they never actually sound dated from the specific year in which they are recording. Rather, they sound confusingly like dated music from a time that has not yet come to pass. The songs, with the exception of "Take a Chance on Me," are not my favorite Abba songs, but then "Dancing Queen" probably would have been a disaster (that song probably can not be covered with any degree of success whatsoever), and "Ring Ring" would have been plain silly. (Though no more silly than, say, a rodeo cowboy interlude on an Erasure album … and they have enough of those.) The versions are very faithful to the originals, with synths replacing all instruments, and Andy Bell's voice is excellent throughout. The only embarrassing moment comes in the middle of "Take a Chance on Me," when the (perhaps inevitable) dancehall reggae rapper enters the picture. But you've gotta let Erasure be Erasure, because they're as prone to use a tasteless trendy bit as an ambitious, visionary bit- – that's part of what makes them so exciting, I think. It's a shame that they've come to be so critically ignored (a recent Abba cover story in MOJO failed to mention them at all, though they are probably the most genuine heirs to Abba's style). I also should mention that immediately after purchasing this disc, at a record store I had never been to and have never been back to, in a city I never go to, I ran into one of my former English teachers and had a very, very awkward conversation with her in the parking lot – for she was the English teacher I used to routinely attempt to reduce to tears, often with great success. Man, I was a bastard then. Wait, I'm still a bastard now. Damn!
Review by French Tichler |