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Simian
We Are Your Friends (Source Records)
By: Cam Lindsay
 Weird popsters Simian are back at it, a year after delivering their very interesting debut, Chemistry Is What We Are. We Are Your Friends is every bit as psychetronic as its predecessor, yet seems a little more focused on where it is going. Instead of the more Beta Band-friendly folktronica, you have funkafied soul put through the electro-machine. The impressive level of hummability is very much in control with most songs, even though they avoid any type of conventionality. There's also a certain 60s exploratory feel to it, like a hipster ahead of his time. The production sounds perfectly vintage, while the music stretches ahead into the future. Does it make any sense? Well, no, but since when does music have any limits? "Never Be Alone" is a top notch acid-flavoured foot stomper, just itching to be remixed for the dancefloor. It's electrifying and yet, unusual enough for the lads in Simian to maintain their level of twisted musicality. "Skin" has lyrics eerie enough to make anyone jump out of theirs. "In Between" is one of the stronger songs that show where Simian may be headed in the future. It shows the album's curiosity for beats, travelling in and out of breaks, hinting at a more dance-oriented direction. Yet a tune like "When I Go", an almost perfect indie pop number, seems right at home to them. You can't place your finger on them because they're constantly switching directions, but that's what gives Simian their energy and inspiration to make these fine records of robotic, psychedelic mess. God bless 'em. B.
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