The Presets (2) – Apocalypso

Take u from da 80eees
Bimbos rok da laytex
Dingos catchin baybeees

Don't know why you'd pay such stupid prices on here where you can buy a new sealed copy for around $50 AUD from a store...

I found this one to be a very good pressing and great sounding too

Absolutely fantastic pressing and mastering, TwoUp, unfortunately you must have lucked-out on your copy.

not the best pressing unfortunately. Side A1 has significant surafce noise and skips unless needle is adjusted to accommodate the crappy pressing. Any one else experiencing this or did I just get a didgy copy?

One of those surprises you cannot explain how or why they got you. The very name of the duo is appealing enough to any remotely enthusiastic electro-pop follower and whatever positive guess you make about it, it won't fail.

The Presets is a duo with mystery sticker over their sound and image - while their pose on record covers seems pretentious in all of its extravagance, and various comparisons were already brought to justice, there is so much interesting music stuff going on here, it's impossible to resist a massive jewel like this.

Not that "Apocalypso" is 100% but at least a 95% great record which collects dancefloor's hardcore trash with ultimate sophistication - divine decadence, today mostly missed and often mistaken too easily by other mainstream acts... and while the world wastes its ears bleeding on expendable electro-ish r'n'b crap of you know who, The Presets have produced a true classic album which is not just of the moment. Listen to it ten years from now and the relevance of it won't desert you.

It grabs the ear, depending on the mood - it might be the very first listen, then something might be missing, then again you discover how fascinating and full of life it is. The melody and the beat work perfectly practically in every piece, although some could've been a bit shorter ('Together' is a stunning blast but all too repetitive for its own sake).

Many point out 'My People' as one of the highlights - for me it's the weakest piece despite the fact neither it loses its appeal nor it irritates as much as it tries to. The brilliance of The Presets comes in two examples of this album's strongest pieces - 'This Boy's In Love' and 'If I Knew You' touching the heart so deeply, the latter developing from a nice smooth intro into fully blown dancefloor epic. In a way, this is 'Love Is a Shield' more intelligently put together without the obvious reference to its idols. And speaking of idols, The Presets is more Blancmange and Julian Cope for the new age than the omnipresent Depeche Mode many usually point out in their shallow, lazy fashion. Musical arrangements and particularly the vocals, very vividly echo Neil Arthur's fascinating baritone.

That is even more evident in tracks like 'Yippyo-Ay' and 'A New Sky', disco-flavoured songs that could very easily be mistaken for a 'Happy Families' leftover (in a positive sense of the word, of course). 'Talk Like That' confusingly opens with grandiose organ sound immediately twisting into another full-blown dance masterpiece. "Eucalyptus" even echoes Suicide by its rhythm and sinister synth tone, but in its own way, once again manages to get away with the trick - somewhere half way down the chorus. There is some tiny space for the static instrumental 'Aeons' to bring additional diversity into the very album, closing the lot with 'Anywhere', another fine moment, Underworld will never achieve.

The album well crafted, carefully structured and despite some obvious reference points, free of calculations. All fun yet very serious and profound.