Hearing Aide: Lord Electro ‘Business’

The Albany based trio Lord Electro has made an epic sound for such a humble group.  Their debut album Business is highly synthetic, immersive and overall impressive. This is the first full length album for the group and they’ve done a immaculate job. The production quality is top notch, their performance is tight and it will leave listeners with a few pleasant ear-worms. They’re playing all over the tri-state area, mainly focused in New York, as well as an album release show on Friday, March 10 at The Hollow in Albany, NY.

They’ve played with big names like The New Deal, Soule Monde (Ft. members of TAB), Roots of Creation, Conehead Buddha and have been influenced by groups like The Disco Biscuits, Lotus, Phish, NERVE and STS9. They haven’t reinvented the livetronic style, but they have created a great album to add to the library of livetronica lovers. The group consists of Dan Gerken on Synth, Steve Mink on bass and synth and Jordan LeFluer drums.

The title track “Business” is first up and it’s a little generic to start, but as the saying goes, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” It builds nicely through a variety of unique tones from Gerken and is very spacious and trance-like with mild peaks and drops. The direction isn’t very surprising but it will definitely get people moving in a live setting. Vocal hooks will have listeners humming the tune for days making this a key track. Again, it’s easy to forget that only three men are creating this music, through the help of loops and drum tracks of course, but it is still impressive nonetheless.

“Spiral” is truly encapsulating, partly because of the instrumental track, but also because of the thought that went into the vocals. Again, Gerken’s voice is sultry and spot on, harmonized at some points and thoroughly impressive. That voice laid over a never-stopping beat is a really nice touch considering it’s an overlooked aspect of livetronica.

“The Slumber” is another track that incorporates that fantastic voice from Gerken. That, on top of a darker take on a trance tone makes for an excellent song. The verses aren’t the most incredible pieces of music ever created, but the chorus is astounding. The lyrics, “Too much, too fast” will be ringing out in the heads of listeners as well as this washy, never ending riff that leaves listeners feeling trapped in a whirlpool of sound.

Towards the end, “Reflections” comes in a little slow to start, but pulls through in the end in the best possible way. LeFluer stays consistent the whole way through, Mink lays down a fantastic, highly addictive, but slightly repetitive groove and Greken digresses from a peppy and tight synth run to an intense, falling lick that gives a nice contrast of light and dark tones.

Overall, this album won’t revolutionize the livetronica genre, but it is well thought out, well produced and will be an absolute blast to see performed live. Lord Electro perform later this month at Dino BBQ in Troy NY, March 24, The Monopole in Plattsburgh NY March 25 and several other New York based shows mid March through late April. Tour dates are on their Facebook page as well as hard copies of their CD for purchase and digital downloads available on iTunes.

Key Tracks: Business, The Slumber, Reflections

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