Bleep

San Francisco’s largely unknown synth band Bronze make their debut on Not Not Fun with World Arena, an album which convincingly ranges from post-punk to psychedelic influences. Though the band’s sound is initially abrasive, with vocals drenched in reverb and the synth lines allowed to naturally distort, what emerges through time is the simple pop beauty of many of the album’s tracks. ‘Dulcinea’ and ‘Cool Down’ are strange cousins of early Velvet Underground, with yearning and understated vocals judged perfectly, and ‘Mirror the Shade’ and ‘Quality’ are a distorted relation of Talking Heads’ funk-driven synth pop.