Oppenheimer - Breakfast In NYC (Smalltown America)
UK release date: 17 April 2006
This record really is the bomb. Get it? Get it? Belfast's Oppenheimer,
named, presumably after the inventor of the atomic bomb, consist of
multi-instrumentalists Shaun Robinson and Rocky O'Reilly and deal in sweet,
melodic electro-pop with a pinch of the leftfield thrown in for good
measure. And they're very good.
Breakfast In NYC is instantly likeable, mixing lo-fi electronica with a
thoroughly modern pop sensibility. Its charm lies in a sweet, simplistic
lyric, naïve in its delivery. The vocals are sweet and lilting yet
simultaneously strangely robotic. Underscoring this is a plethora of
melodious electronica bubbling beneath the surface. All this easily betrays
Oppenheimer's influences, which they wear very much on their sleeve: a hint
of Eno, dashes of Kraftwerk, a little Stereolab, a
splash of David Holmes. The result is a dreamy, quirky, gorgeous
single.
The use of the glockenspiel on the track adds to its whimsical charm, and
the chorus quickly melts into your brain like you know it should. This is
pop music at its most sublime, the soundtrack to a neon fantasy world where
everything is shiny. The song's flipside, Truth Or Dare, is a more
fast-paced, new wave-influenced electro-pop number, that demonstrates that
Oppenheimer aren't one trick ponies: it's gorgeous, gorgeous music
that has universal appeal. If you don't like this then I would suggest you go
looking for your soul, my friend; haven’t you got bunny rabbits to jump on or something?
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