Album review: Datarock - 'Red'

Stuck bang in the middle of the ’80s, Norwegian duo Datarock clearly take much delight in both mimicking and playfully jibing at their musical forefathers. It’s been four years since their debut, yet it seems these scamps wilfully refuse to grow up. On the single ‘Give It Up’, Fredrik Saroea awkwardly wraps his Phil Oakey croon around gormless playground threats like “We’ll hook you up with an enema” and stumbles on their clunky ode to ‘Molly’ (Ringwald, of course!). But ‘Amarillion’ is irresistibly slinky new wave and ‘Dance!’ shows they’re capable of mastering the frothy disco pop they so admire. ‘Red’ may only be a fleetingly satisfying confection, but maybe that was the plan all along.

Tom Edwards

More on this artist:
Datarock NME Artist Page
Datarock MySpace

6 out of 10