Running your band like a corporation sounds like the dreadful wet dream of some major label executive. Songs are not art—they’re products, gigs are not a collective musical experience—they’re a marketing opportunity, and festivals aren’t a social and cultural event—they’re a trade convention. If this sarcastic comparison hits a little too close to the bone, then you’re tapping into the emotion POLSKY are conveying.
With their tongue stuck firmly in their cheek they announce themselves as “…a musical corporate entity for the modern-day.” Their band members aren’t bassists, keyboardists, or drummers, but “Low Frequency Systems Analyst” Chris Norman, “Senior Synth Architect” Ben Warren, and a “Rhythm Logistics Engineer” Alex Robertson. But underneath the humorous overtones there is a rejection of—through the cynical over-egging of—the blurred lines between art and business.
Playing a lively style of indie-pop which takes influences from post-punk and electro along the way, their first offering “Switchboard Operator” reminds me strongly of early Maximo Park, especially in regard to the vocals of “CEO” Chris Warren which sound very Paul Smith-esque in their delivery.
Cutting his musical teeth while assisting Robin Guthrie (ex of The Cocoteau Twins), Warren observed first-hand how Guthrie would approach production and writing in sessions with the likes of Echo and the Bunnymen, Nick Lowe, Terry Hall, Ian Brodie, Billy Mackenzie, and many others. An incredible apprenticeship!
The only release from upcoming debut album My Own Company, “Switchboard Operator” allows Warren to show off what he has learned with Guthrie in a song that feels like it was engineered to get your foot tapping. Its earworm guitar riff and poppy synths immediately stand out as something that would come across rather well live, and leads me to think that this is a band who could really give their extra 10% on stage.
The single “Switchboard Operator” is available now with My Own Company released 13th May 2016 via PRODUCT.
