A trio of weird French people hailing from Lille, France. Old-time computers are played, and you can hear that in the glorious 8-bit sound employed. Usually chiptune artists are more obsessed with the sound than with actual composition, but Dat Politics deftly avoids this common problem.
They’re been around since the early 00s, so they’ve slowly morphed from being esoteric loud, poppy noise (Villager, Tracto Flirt) to fully embracing their pop sensibilities. See “M.A.D.K.I.T” and “bad dream machine” for examples of pure, uncut wholesome goodness. Often the album plays like some hyper active children’s program, complete with colorful noises and simple melodies.
Originally they avoided lyrics and singing, focusing purely on instrumentals. Now I’ve grown to love their off vocal delivery. And they’ve also tackled a little bit of dance, something they hadn’t really touched on before, mostly because they move too fast. Perhaps hummingbirds would be able to dance to their average song. “Own Thing” parts 1 and 2 allow for a little breathing room, and showing how they have created something far more interesting than Crystal Castles ever has.
It has been almost 9 years since I first heard them, and I’ve happy to say that each release gets them a little closer to normalcy. At some point I’d like them to leave the French electro-pop wilderness and be embraced by the giant crowd of cool kids.
PS. Please come back to the US. We miss you here. You rocked at Tonic. I heart you!
