80tribe - Synth'em All


(RetroSynth Records 2018)

RetroSynth Records first came to my attention with See Thomas Howl's excellent album Dead Again. So of course I was curious to see if the label could sustain that kind of quality output. However, their latest release, Synth'em All by newcomer 80tribe, feels like it should have remained in the shop for a bit longer. 



There are some really nice moments on Synth'em All, like the detuned lead on "Slo-Mo," the chord progressions on "Rad Squad" and "All Guns Blazing" and the lovely pad number "Point of No Return." So the potential is there. But there are also a lot of sounds that are dry and underprocessed, while the mix lacks energy and dynamism. The drums especially sound flat and boring to my ears.

This is also true on an ideas level. There's always at least one element that doesn't need to be there, and creating clutter around the stuff that does work. Bottom line, I know nothing about 80tribe, so I don't want to presume anything, but Synth'em All feels like it was made by a new producer who rushed their debut to market. This has become very common in the era of Bandcamp and YouTube, and it's not my place to judge--maybe the experience of releasing something is educational in itself. But while I hear a lot of potential in 80tribe, I mainly see room for growth.

Score: 5.0 

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