It's 2025 and we can't seem to extricate ourselves from the dystopian nightmare that is part and parcel of the modern world. To all the Goth heads who love Joy Division, Bauhaus, and the Birthday Party but have yet to discover their progeny: meet Pop 1280. They provide the cacophonous soundtrack to the fall of late stage capitalism if there ever was one. It's for happily roasting marshmallows by a distant fire while the whole rotten system collapses.
Their music is tastefully macabre existential dread for lovers of Kafka and Camus.The trajectory of their evolution went from a sludgy metallic cross between the Melvins and the Birthday Party to a synth pop amalgamation of Suicide and Depeche Mode mixed with a smigde of the Pet Shop boys. With the addition of Allegra Sauvage, the sound became more refined and cinematic.
In my newfound appreciation for Depeche Mode, I feel most inclined toward the 2021 effort Museum On the Horizon. It represents an artistic leap that many a band would fear to make. Anyone old enough to remember Radiohead fans' outright rejection of Kid A upon first listen would understand. It sometimes takes listeners time to evolve along with their favorite bands.
For a long time, I dismissed anything electronic. I had visions of the two bros from Night at the Roxbury with nothing on their minds but getting laid, dancing in my head. As I've now come to realize, that stereotype has been smashed many times over by bands with extraordinary creativity and depth of intellect like Pop 1280. There's a valuable lesson here that not all synth pop rots the teeth. At least not when it's done right.
Damn the naysayers! Museum on the Horizon beats anything that Nine Inch Nails or Ministry put out even at the height of their popularity. I say that as a 90's teen who worshipped both bands. My favorite track on the album may be "Not Too Deep."
M.M. Carrion
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