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People's Children: Delete, Control, Escape...
Information on Other People's Children has been scarce. All I have been able to find is what I was given on the press release included with my promo copy of the disc. What I do know is that the band is a male/female duo who decided that, in the absence of smart, socially conscious pop music, they would record an album composed of keyboards, guitar work and computer editing, combined with political lyrics that take a deep look at the societal ills of modern Australia. For the most part, this description is fairly on target. Other People's Children do combine keyboards, guitar work and computer editing. And there are lyrics. Now it may just be that I am not up to speed on the problems that face the people of Australia, and I'm sure that there are many issues there that I haven't heard much about. The other day, I read that their military is going to begin using the dangerously large kangaroo population as target practice in a fair exchange that keeps the kangaroo population in check and gives their soldiers a chance to hone their shooting skills. To me, this would seem like a protestable practice. Rather than capitalizing on this unique issue and composing odes to kangaroos, Other People's Children seem determined to sing smartly and politically about subjects that have been sung about smartly and politically for ages, just about everywhere: Fear and Uncertainty, Social Injustice and Class Stratification. Now I don't really expect them to sing about saving kangaroos, and I promise I don't see Australia as an endless Simpsons sketch. Its just that the subjects of their lyrical focus may be as tired as many of the pop conventions they use, and their singing voices and songwriting just aren't good enough to overcome this handicap. In most cases, these songs are pleasant and inoffensive, and the album is very listenable; but when a band boldly proclaims a political agenda, even if it's wrapped in pop production, I expect moments of rancor and disillusion. Other People's Children makes it all too safe and accessible. Their shining moment in my eyes is the instrumental album closer, where they allow their real strength, their rather focused talent for making good electronic pop, to really show.
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