Entertainment, Gender

by Carrie Dagenhard
04/28/2008

Take one part post-punk, add a few tablespoons of synthesizers, a sprinkle of progressive goth, a pinch of glam, a hell of a lot of reverb, and you have Gender, the debut album of Athens-based Entertainment. The album is impossible to pigeonhole into one genre. It falls into a liminal space somewhere between indie dance rock and Morrissey on heroin.

Entertainment has been nesting under a blanket of obscurity for several years, sporadically releasing 7 and 12 inch singles to a small but eager fan base. Gender is a gem of an album, but not something you would expect from a band that has been perfecting their craft for a lengthy period of time.

Upon first listening to the album, I was intrigued, but not blown away. It’s contradictory in positive ways. It’s simplistic, but not dull. It’s catchy, but not poppy. It’s dark without being utterly depressing. It’s danceable, but I can’t say that I can really see anyone dancing. What I can see is a downtown dive bar at 2 a.m. Dark and sleepy with just a hint of anticipation for what the last few minutes might hold.

The narrow-range, haunting vocals float from track to track over entrancing guitar work and eerie bass lines. “Confusion of Senses” introduces the album with a building of percussion which explodes into ghost-like synthesized layers and plateaus with monotone vocals. And that’s pretty much it, for seven more tracks. The last track, “Swing Movements” offers slightly more vocal range, but the same simple bass lines and hazy synthesizer techniques.

Gender is more or less one really long song, broken up into eight pieces. Not a bad album, but monotonous none the less.

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