I finally gotten around to listening toThe Joy of Sing-Sing by Lush 2.0 Sing-Sing today. I suppose calling them Lush 2 really doesn’t give them nearly enough credit (Lush being the band Sing-Sing lead guitarist Emma Anderson previously played in, for the uninformed), the music is very different though still close enough that, going into it from the perspective of a Lush fan, I was still completely happy to have this as the next best thing (OK, so Tearwave is both closer and a better band - call this the third best thing).
In a way, it’s more complex - instrumentally deeper than the layers of distorted guitars employed by Lush to create the classic shoegaze effect. It’s more electronic, almost ambient influenced at times. The album as a whole, though, is still shoegaze-ish, though perhaps closer to the dream pop end of the spectrum…but then again, Lush were too - especially towards the end. Ugh, must stop with the Lush comparisons - they’re really not doing justice. OK, so being favorably compared to Lush is a pretty damned big compliment, but still - it hardly addresses the intricacies involved.
So, about the part of the band that isn’t Emma - lead vocalist Lisa O’Neill. Well, in short - she’s excellent. Just the sort of dreamy, floating voice that this style of music needs. It lacks some of the personality of *slaps self for another comparison* Miki Berenyi, or even Jenn Manganiello (Tearwave), but gets the job done perfectly. The Joy of Sing-Sing is a little piece of joy, no doubt about it. Great album, I’m just stuck wondering why I didn’t find it sooner. I’d kinda been avoiding Sing-Sing because I had such high expectations from Lush, I expected no matter what they would be disappointed. They weren’t, I don’t know what else I could ask for.
Sadly, Sing-Sing broke up in December of last year. I really hope Emma comes through with another project, but no word about any future work yet. I still have their other album, Sing-Sing and I, left to listen to.
