Timely repress of Electrelane's in demand sophomore release. After the limited success of their debut, the British four piece signed to Too Pure in an effort to reach a wider audience. They hit up the legendary producer, Steve Albini, in an effort to get booked for the All Tomorrow's Parties (ATP) music festival, but the roster was already full. However, Albini said to contact him if they wanted to work with him in the future. This led to Electrelane recording The Power Out over a three week period at Albini's Electrical Audio studio in Chicago in 2003. The results were a slightly stripped down sound from their debut. Albini's penchant for frills free, all analog recording, with a limited use of effects was put to good use during the recording and mixing of the album. The songs tend to have a Krautrock influence, but fit within the conventions of pop music. One of the standout tracks is "The Valleys" which employs the Chicago a cappella ensemble to great effect. Many of the songs are sung in foreign languages and feature literary references. This may help to explain the album's limited commercial success compared to its critical acclaim. Original pressings of The Power Out tend to sell for crazy amounts. Here's your chance to get a repress that's faithful to the original release for a nice price.

• include MP3 download card
• music label: Too Pure 2013

reviewed by Michu Meszaros 01/2014