Review by Sheldon Hubbard
Bizou soars into summertime with a surging soundscape on Tragic Lover. A collection of dreamy rhythmics that pretty much solidifies them as giants in the realm of progressive pop rock. With a collective of members that have touched such music virtuosity as Smashing Pumpkins, Wax Idols, Glaare, Veruca Salt, and Light FM, what we are presented with here isn’t a mere mimic or Great Value version of those backgrounds. It is a conglomerate of wavy, refreshing glimpses into the further reaches of each member’s individual capacity. “Days of Honey” and “Tragic Lover” are an incredible duo to start the record out. One, invigorating and spritely in essence. The other, drips with magnetic longings of a yet-to-be found...yep, you guessed it. “Disco” twirls with power pop riffs and electric kicks while the vocalization whirls in between. “Delay” has synthy, wavey hues and an easily catchable hook; echoing “You will survive, you will survive…” “Glass Lips” is a driving and drum heavy track that proves to be an ear-pleasing midpoint. If the previous track was a portal into the latter half of the album, “Doing the Under” is what it sounds like when your eyes open on the other side of the record. “Wanted Not Wanted” seems to be a dreamy muse, flourishing with indie-movie-title-track energy. “Orphan Lights” is an impelling outpour of mystifying electronic sound. It gleams with a fade at the end that sends you into “Fascination” as if catching glimpses of a horizon then, as you get closer to the water, the fullness of what’s in front of you meldes with your eye. “Tragic Lover” could be called the tranquilizing, misty beaches of modern goth pop. With soundscape mastery, Bizou envelopes you with their sound from start to finish. They take their mixture of experience in sounds from grunging alternative to starry-eyed shoegaze and cauterize them together with wildy progressive glue. Recorded at Cave Studio in Los Angeles, and mastered by Simon Scott of SPS Mastering, you can’t miss this debut from a fine conglomerate of legendary post-punk powerhouses.
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