Leæther Strip – After The Devastation

Leaether Strip goes futurepop.

For me, that sums up the release in a concise statement. Most of the ebm influence typically found within any previous L.S. albums has vanished. Instead, Larsen adopted the upbeat tempo, synth hooks, and club beats of futurepop, at times reminiscent of Assemblage 23. Larsen also became much less metaphorical in his lyrics, and begins discussing his life and his past in startlingly optimisitic detail.

Yet, the album is truly hit or miss. Some songs i find to be quite weak, and appear to be just filler. Others remind me of an "upgraded" version of Larsen's previous material, which isn't all together awful. And some are flat out mediocre. The change from the classic L.S. sound is at the same time shocking but not surprising. I resent the fact that Larsen threw out the sound i loved that he had been using for over a decade, but i suppose he felt that it was about time to break stagnation. Still, the music will fit in at the clubs with the hoards of boring futurepop bands that are coming out of the woodwork these days, if only for the name on the album cover. Thus i still feel that this could have been released on one disc if the fat had been trimmed. As for the remix CD AEftershock, i don't think i have even listened to it through once. But i am not a dj, and have little interest in such a bonus item.

The actual packaging of the album is quite interesting. It comes in a cardboard box and contains both the super jewel box, postcards and the extra remix CD. I also managed to grab a version of the cool fanpack edition, which included a poster, stickers, t-shirt, nylon satchel, promo poster, and a comp CD and catalogue from Alfa Matrix. A good score for a music collector....now if only the music were as solid as the extras.