Retro Electro-Pop Gets Down and Dirty

Dissonance has never been this retro. Say hello to Chicago’s own Abraham Levitan, the mastermind behind eccentric indie-pop group Baby Teeth. Vocalist and keyboardist extraordinaire, Levitan has branched out from his retro-funk project to dabble in an electro-indie sound not-so-firmly based in new wave roots. Levitan’s first solo recording, Speak, Memory, adapts his soul and funk leanings to collaborate on an album that is significantly darker than you might expect from the Baby Teeth alumnus.

Speak, Memory is a light speckling of seemingly everything the music world has to offer, bouncing between jam-band styled dual guitars (’If It Bleeds, Pt. 1′), both melancholy and uplifting string medleys, and heavily layered vocal harmonies. The final product is an anti-stylized smorgasbord of delectable electro-ditties. Openers ‘Weekend at Home’ and ‘If It Bleeds, Pt. 1′ typify Levitan’s Baby Teeth style – but don’t get too comfortable. ‘Sarah (The German Song)’ bites hard and takes flesh with it, hitting you with a dark dose of string-fueled dissonance. ‘Slave to Efficiency’ sounds like something a cheery Trent Reznor might concoct while petting a puppy and eating corn flakes. ‘Violator’ is driven by dark keyboards that evoke visions of Stevie Wonder covering Pink Floyd. While ‘Little Helicopters’ is the final glum track, manipulating a minimalist strategy that builds upon itself throughout the course of the song (insert gloomy Neil Diamond joke here).

Levitan spreads himself dangerously thin over the course of Speak, Memory, experimenting with the melancholy, the ecstatic, and the uplifting to create an emotional roller coaster that almost falls off its tracks. Even as Levitan drags each song through the muck, the album’s personality comes out intact and shiny. Consistently dissonant melodies and interludes of despondent lullabies ultimately do much to keep Speak, Memory on course, defining Levitan as a front man that does more than well as a stand-alone artist.

Mark Sherbin