On this, their debut, The Electric Penguins have attempted to make a contemporary, somewhat ambient, album using 1970s instruments, and, for the large part, it works.
Featuring the same repeated vocal hook over and over, just a moan really, and a gentle piano, album opener 'Gelb' is a deep steamy breath out into an icy mornings. It's a relaxed coffee on your own. 'Transatlantic (Part 1)' is more uplifting - electronic pop music with a slight 80s feel that melts away in 'Transatlantic (Part 2)' like to different mixes of the same track on one album. 'Transatlantic (Part 2)' is slower and more contemplative but continues with the same melody. At the albums centre these two tracks undoubtedly form the cornerstone of Goodbye From The Electric Penguins' feel.
'Lonnie' sounds like a boy band, if boy bands made quirky, organic, abstract pop records. Elsewhere thing get slightly bizarre - 'Supergirl' sounds like Bent whilst the plodding 'Answer The Phone' sounds like nothing you've ever heard, a time stretched, twisted Beatles or Pink Floyd possibly? Whilst 'Answer The Phone' manages to sustain interest for most of its seven minutes, 'Supergirl' is probably the weakest track on the album.
'Too Far' nicely puts the album to rest, deep sea echoes giving the haunting impression of the vocalists singing as they sink to the deaths. Goodbye From The Electric Penguins beautifully conveys feeling and atmosphere; the sound of loss, loneliness and melancholy, and, provided 'Supergirl' gets left behind, it will be interesting to see how they follow it up.