Strength

Mind-Reader
Self-Released 2010

Portland's dark and sultry disco-pop trio, Strength, deliver an album of devious whimsy with Mind-Reader.  Disco pop, with a distinctive British feel to it, swaggers its way around my cranium as the funky beats and slightly sarcastic vocals drip off album opener, Metal.  A somewhat silly but still sexual lyrical theme sensually grooves along with trippy bass-lines and electro-pop synth on Brandy.  A picture of a nerdy midnight rendezvous is painted by the dreamy synths on Brandy.  Rhythmic electro-punk hits hard on Disaster through it's presentation of hyper synth and acidic guitars.  This compositional construction smashes together musical comparisons of Flock of Seagulls getting pounded by the Sex Pistols.  A pulsing beat forces your body to move on the Wilderness.  80s era New Wave guitar accents give the song a brooding, yet dream-like feel.  A dance club mutation of Bauhaus's gothic style creeps stealthily across the dance-floor on Blood.  Meanwhile a Berlin meets Depeche Mode sense of rainy night New Wave dance permeates the swaying beats and notes of Overheat.   Strength's sophomore album is an ironically funny amalgamation of electro-pop that dips into varied styles (R&B, 80s New Wave, punk) to flesh out the lusty 24 minutes of Mind-Reader.