Review: New Glitch Mob

Drink the Sea may help west coast darling’s Glitch Mob gain some new mass appeal, adding to their arsenal some new sounds that call to mind Ratatat and other peppy varieties of instrumental music (notice how we didn’t say “electronic” – lots of instrumental sampling & padding on this album). Some tracks venture into a melodic motif reminiscent of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, John Tesh, or an early 90s movie soundtrack (See: “How to be Eaten By a Women”) – and unfortunately it doesn’t seem like that was the intention. More consistently, chirpy organs and an easy-to-anticipate rotation of and victorious-sounding, sputtery “choruses” create an almost.. “dorky” vibe for a collective of glitch artists typically associated with hip-hop culture and the darker, grime-influenced glitch scene. Nonetheless, there are certainly a handful of sexy, stylized grooves per their usual energy; they are pretty talented bunch and will probably win acclaim for this album despite (or perhaps due to) some divergence from the glitch genre(s).