Spektrum: Lady Sovereign's Producer Brings The Political Punk Funk

The genre-shattering quartet of Londoners, Spektrum, have been making underground waves since 2002. Having just dropped their second full-length platter of Political-Electro-Post Punk-Funk floorfillers, Fun at The Gymkhana Club, all is set to make those waves hit big. Spektrum (Lola Olafisoye, Gabriel Olegavich, Isaac Tucker, and Teia Williams) released their debut album, Enter The...Spektrum, to celebatory ears in 2004, blowing away nearly every music-lover and critic-in-the-know that got their hands on a copy. Meanwhile, Spektrum member Gabriel Olegavich (aka "Medasyn"), has recently been receiving many accolades for his production skills on Lady Soveregin's Public Warning album, which will hopefully lead listeners to Spektrum's new and very exciting slab.


While Enter was a joyfully bumpy ride of other-worldly freak-disco, Fun at The Gymkhana Club is an even more cohesive and thrill-filled affair. Pulling from the likes of ESG, Timbaland, Gang of Four, Depeche Mode, early Human League, and X-Ray Spex - the band are a pop music history blender yet serve up something surprisingly unique. Lead-off track, the protest-anthem "May Day", is a deep and dark organ-grinder where Frontwoman, Lola Olafisoye, firmly asserts herself as the new queen with her Nina Hagen-cum-Poly Styrene-cum-Grace Jones vocal prowess. Olafisoye forgos the braggart, material-trapped, and meaningless lyrical obsessions of many dance-oriented acts, in favor of those of a more spiritual and political nature (the album title itself refers partly to colonialism). There's the anti-bling ch-ching of "Horny Pony", and the peacenik call-to-arms "Oh Build an Army", the identity-examining "The Mirror Man", and the upfront female sexuality and Prince-esque sleaze of "Don't Be Shy". While Olafisoye waxes poetic, the boys in the band excel at making one shake one's rump furiously. The band get really sexy when they slow it down, like on the dubby and psychedelic "Moody Feels Good", the dreamy synth-pop of "Fit Together" and on the slinky "Sugar Bowl", Spektrum pull off what The Make-Up were always trying to. Fun is a magical rabbitt-hole and slide-down into the vast musical wonderlandscape that Spektrum create with their utter uniqueness. Welcome, and please shimmy, shake, swagger, and strut to the beat of the revolution coming.


Spektrum have a few European dates before heading off to New Zealand and Australia in December

11/22/2006 08:00 PM - Paradiso, Amsterdam

11/23/2006 08:00 PM - Rotown, Rotterdam

11/24/2006 08:00 AM - Great Eastern Hotel, London

11/25/2006 08:00 PM - Batofar, Paris

Recommended Listening:

Spektrum Fun at The Gymkhana Club
Buy Here
Download at iTunes
Listen to tracks from Fun at The Gymkhana Club at Spektrum's Myspace

Recommended Viewing:
Spektrum's "May Day" video available to view at YouTube.com