Album Review: Yacht – See Mystery Lights

Album Review: Yacht – See Mystery Lights [DFA]

Portland electro duo YACHT (they like their capitals) first caught Rivmixx’s eye when they ably filled the support slot on Patrick Wolf‘s pre ‘Bachelor’ tour. Exuding a confidence rarely found in supporting artists, the duo – who bare more than a passing resemblance to the Eurythmics – were ably blasting out choice electro-pop cuts, much to the delight of the assembled Wolf pack.

On ‘See Mystery Lights’ Yacht have graduated from Jona Bechtolt‘s solo bedroom project into a charismatic pop juggernaut. The duo seem to specialise in marrying state of the art sampling and programming with ’80s production techniques and, as a result, come across like Midnight Oil covering Kraftwerk.

Delighting in challenging and cheerfully goading preconceptions of life, death and religion, tunes such as ‘Psychic City (Voodoo City)’ see YACHT at their best, deftly combining intelligent lyrics with disco hooks and pop harmonies. In addition, ‘Summer Song’ is not short on charm and the dreamy production touches conjure up images of simmering traffic jams, paddling pools and stifling city nights.

As is often the case with dance-influenced indie artists, some of the tracks don’t translate well to home listening. However, these are often the same tracks that keep an audience moving in a live situation and that’s where YACHT really shine.

Matt Parker

Available now.

Written for Rivmixx

Live Review: YACHT @ the Electric Ballroom (01/06/09)

Having attended London’s Electric Ballroom last night (June 1) to catch Patrick Wolf – who standardly put on a great show – Rivmixx was happily surprised to witness Portland’s finest electro-darlings, YACHT.

The dynamic duo, consisting of one Jona Becholt and one Claire L. Evans, appeared on stage to a crowd reaction that can only be described as nonchalant. Jona looked like Colonel Sanders favourite nephew, head to toe in white, whilst Claire, the yin to his yang, was resplendent in black. They then proceeded to bombard the audience with a continuous volley of choice electro-pop cuts and quickly had a room full of Wolf-devotees shuffling their feet vigourously. If this is what they’re capable of as a support band it’s easy to see why they’ve recently been put out on James Murphy‘s DFA label.

Although their musicianship only appeared to extend to pressing play on a box of electrical wizardry and what we witnessed was – essentially – really great karaoke, it seemed to allow a lot of freedom.

The dual front-person approach and Jona and Claire’s suitably unhinged dance-moves meant that there was plenty to keep an eclectic audience’s attention. In between tracks the band took the opportunity to educate us with an inspired melding of music and powerpoint presentations.

“If you’re ever in the U.S., look us up” was one such shot – an invitation that was taken with a pinch of salt by most onlookers, until they proceeded to show us where it was on a map of the states, then their state, then town before finally a picture of their house and their home address displayed in big letters. “Seriously, write it down. Come and stay”. If they keep up this warm hospitality and keep churning out their Eurythmics meet Talking Heads dance-pop classics then YACHT will become a very exciting prospect indeed.

Matt Parker

Written for Rivmixx