July 2002 • Rockbites Alternative Daily
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July 2002 • Rockbites Alternative Daily
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Death By Chocolate zap, zap, zap the world on second LP 9 July 2002
English producers Jeremy Butler and John Austin love the ’60s and may be uniquely adept at breathing new life into that singular, long-gone era. With their projects Lollipop Train, Maria Napolean, David Candy, Mild Euphoria, Dream Drops, and Death By Chocolate they have combined period instruments, electronics, song styles, and techniques with modern-day computers, studio mastery, and a big dose of humor to build a burgeoning catalog of songs that just might have been made way back then. Today Butler and Austin, along with 23 year old vocalist Angela Faye Tillett—who producer/label mogul Mike Alway discovered a few years ago singing on the sidewalk outside a heel bar in Clacton-On-Sea—release for the US on Jetset records their second album as Death By Chocolate. The 16-track CD, titled Zap The World, came out late last year for Europe on Spain’s Siesta label. It follows their self-titled debut which splashed with psychedelic boldness onto the pop music scene last year, seemingly out of nowhere, every aspect fresh and unexpected, distinctive and wonderful (see our review, link below). A second DBC album couldn’t possibly repeat that act and still be DBC. But it could start with the same, highly distinctive organ/tambourine/guitar/girl-vocal sound and play with it in new & fun ways... and that’s just what it does. So if you loved the band’s debut in part for its novelty, as I did, the new one might sound on your first few listens like a rehash. But the point of Death By Chocolate was never novelty. In light of the debut, the novelty element on Zap The World is pretty much absent—leaving the musical substance front and center: three parts fun, two parts happiness, and one part childlike imagination, all deliciously coated with deep dark crunchy chocolate. The album starts with a one minute radio commercial for the Vox Wah-Wah pedal as interpreted by Death By Chocolate, then proceeds through a breezy mix of jazzy melodies, tongue-in-cheek pop, subtle instrumentals, and spoken essays on topics like cars, clothes, food, and pop art. You can enjoy it at face value or listen closely and hear some beautiful vintage distortion, authentic ’60s chamber reverb, and some very cool interplay between sequencers and the human touch. The sixties never had it so good. Four bites out of five. Rockbites ratings 5: life changing, 4: stunning, 3: captivating, 2: amusing, 1: annoying. | Death By Chocolate on Jetset | | Siesta Records | | Boum! (Mike Alway's site) | | DBC debut review on Rockbites | | top of page | |
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