Aw shit, I don't wanna beat up on these guys. They're from the musical backwater of Singapore, they've struggled for years (breaking up, reforming, changing their name etc) and now they've finally got the major label backing to do their first overseas tour. Honestly, I wish them well.
The trouble is Electrico just don't rock my world. They don't even come close. So Much More Inside is quite varied in style but there's a horribly clean sheen across everything. Two nu-metal numbers ('Studman' and 'Crowd Killer') start proceedings with a sound so sanitised that any life the songs may once have had is snuffed out. Later we're treated to a piano-led ballad ('Fabled Angst Machine', which desperately wants to be Coldplay but isn't even Keane) and mid-paced acoustic strumming ('I See The Light', inoffensive but dull). The title track is better, its funky riffing and disco groove recalling the Fun Lovin' Criminals, but it's not enough to save the rest of the album.
When all is said and done Electrico have no-one to blame but themselves (they co-produced the record afterall). In their bid to be radio friendly they turned a diverse set of songs into generic mush.
If there really is so much more inside: they've hidden it pretty well.
By Andy McLean. Copyright held by author.
First published in The Brag, Sydney, 2004.
So Much More Inside is available through Universal Music.
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