Voltaire Twins actually do happen to be twins whose surname is Voltaire. I think that’s pretty cool. Jaymes and Tegan both sing and play synths in the retro-nu-wave manner that seems to currently inhabit much of the nether world in that place somewhere between the underground and the mainstream. They’re joined on stage by Jack Doepel and Matt Gio, who flesh things out with percussion and samples and the like. And they’ve shared the stage with luminaries such as Ladytron, Art vs Science and Midnight Juggernauts, which will give you an idea of the sonic ball park we’re talking about here.
As with much 21st century synth-pop, the songwriting is good, though unremarkable. Some memorable lines are buried under layers of synth wash which tend to drag the rhythms a bit. While a typical track always starts out sounding punchy and funky, by the time we get to the chorus highpoints, no amount of cymbal crashes are able to quite add the excitement that too many – individually beautiful – synth layers have progressively turned sluggish. The faux-european-singing-like-an-american accents get a little grating as well.
I actually think the EP improves as the track listing progresses with the latter half allowing a little more space for the songs to breathe. Clearly, there is something in the music as it’s been picked up for rotation across the likes of FBi, Radar Radio and Triple J, the band even managing to dip their toes into the 2DayFM commercial network. To my ears, though, the Romulus EP, like much early 80s inspired synth music, is pleasant enough while it’s there, but won’t be anything the memory banks retain once it’s over.
Adrian Elmer
