Cloudcuckooland [Translucent Vinyl] in Bloomington, MN

Taking what he learned from his days in
Big in Japan
and his '80s production work with A-listers
Echo & the Bunnymen
,
Ian Broudie
created
the Lightning Seeds
project to better serve his cravings for shameless, lush
pop
. Even in these early days, with singles like
"Pure"
and
"All I Want,"
you can hear why comparisons to a less burlesque
Pet Shop Boys
or a
Matthew Sweet
synth tribute band didn't have to be unpleasant criticisms.
has always had an evident love for freshly squeezed, exquisitely produced conservatism, but as in the decidedly odd
"Control the Flame,"
not without the awareness of discovering it with well-constructed unsophistication. For some,
Broudie
destroyed his subsequent career by trying to recreate the gelatinous flavor of
Cloudcuckooland
without its flaws, relying too much on its
John Hughes
sonics, and mistaking his very strengths for hard and fast rules that would not and should not be deconstructed again. ~ Dean Carlson