I love the fact that “Additional Animals” is both a vital message about the destructive nature of us humans and the most fun you will have had in a long time. The two rarely go together. All too often, such sentiments are wrapped around deliveries that are so overly earnest, so self-important, so holier-than-thou, that you can hear the artist’s teeth grinding together. Not so with Laptop, the musical vehicle of one-time Voidoid, Jesse Hartman, aided and abetted by his son Charlie.
Now, I’m not saying that Laptop doesn’t take itself seriously; there is no doubt that they believe every word being said. But such a song, one built of post-disco sonic glam, hazy harmonics, seductive synths, and infectious groove, is so engaging that I’m sure that the message gets to more people than if such a sentiment were being delivered by an acoustic indie-folkie with a wide-brimed hat and peace signs on his guitar case to prove that he really means in maaaan!
Out of the two recent singles, “Weirder” is exactly that, the more odd of the two, but odd is great, right? Right. Part psychedelic pop, part alternative dance, the song takes an overview of our world, as if passing aliens were trying to understand what we were all about, failing, and just making a log entry, “Too weird, come back in 300 years and re-evaluate.”
And this is a band with a sense of humour, not to mention a great way with the satirical eye and a parodic point of view, and humour is something that has long been missing from pop music in the age of celebrity and social media following, likes and the rise of the influencer. This is music that reminds us that pop music, if indeed this is pop music, should be fun.
Laptop is genuinely different, not necessarily sounding like but certainly fitting into the same small group of truly experimental artists that include the likes of Talking Heads, XTC, Jonathan Richman, Bowie and Beck. And if you find yourself rubbing shoulders with such icons of the unusual, then you are definitely doing something right, boundary pushing, unique, and musically meaningful.
As a wise man once said, “turn and face the strange….”
Additional Animals
Bandcamp
Spotify
Weirder
