Review: Get Sharp by The Limousines

The Limousines
Get Sharp
Release Date: July 17, 2010
Orchard City Books and Noise

Meet your new favorite band that you’ve never heard. Perhaps slightly hyperbolic, The Limousines do possess that borderline universality to straddle multiple genres and appeal to a wider audience. Still a relatively unknown entity (so jump aboard before it’s no longer hip), The Limousines are garnering some mild attention from their excellent single and video “Internet Killed the Video Star”, but with their aforementioned sound, they could (and should) be far more ubiquitous in musical vernacular.

The Limousines are an electro-pop duo from California, featuring Strata vocalist Eric Victorino. With demos circulating the web since 2007, their first proper album, Get Sharp, has finally landed three years later, and it has more or less lived up to the expectations set by these teaser songs.

What about The Limousines stirs such bold statements of universal adoration? In essence, they know how to craft that insanely infectious gem without being grating or stooping to abysmal, effortless lows. In addition, many of the songs of Get Sharp combine this irresistibility with surprisingly good lyrics, something not terribly prevalent for many contemporaries of the subgenre. One of the best songs of the past few years, “Very Busy People” takes a bouncy-and-woozy electro backing and couples it with Victorino’s high-pitched, melodious delivery, as he discusses that near-indescribable refusal to grow up and valuing the minute things that we often take for granted until it is too late. Another upbeat number with an engrossing narrative, “Flaskaboozendancingshoes” playfully ruminates about the possibilities after meeting someone at the club one night. He considers that “we could fall in love and trade this city for a change of pace”, but concludes that “I’ll just be me and you be you, two perfect strangers being sneaky with a flask of booze.” Even with just the repeated delivery of “Mama said there’d be days like this, my mama said,” “Triangle Circle Square” pulls off momentary grandiosity in its constantly encapsulating atmospheric haze.

Two of the closest comparisons to The Limousines might be Passion Pit or MGMT, since they both also feature intoxicating, sometimes sugary electro-pop with near-falsetto vocals. It is those great lyrics that differentiate Get Sharp from, say, Manners. Anyone who likes these bands or easily accessible and fun synth-driven poppy music must do themselves a favor and obtain a copy of Get Sharp and listen to it on repeat. It is available now on iTunes and at Hot Topic.


Rating: 4.25/5