Amulet is a bit of a grower. When I first listened to it, I thought to myself “Jim Smith is pretty good at this” and left it at that. Upon repeated visits, my feelings grew stronger. Jim knows what he’s doing within these 30 minutes. Each arrangement is pitch-perfect, sounds carefully chosen from the 80s. Sure, there is a lot of this revivalism going around but he sort of rises above a lot of what’s going on with it.
“Dark Passenger” sounds extremely familiar, at times bringing up images of New Order in their prime. The guitar does it, as does the cold wash of synthesizer. Even the time is just enough at four minutes. Larger sounds are found as well, like the giant sounding “Masterplan” including just the right touch.
Comparisons to Twin Shadow are inevitable, but I’m sort of digging this one a bit more than Twin Shadow’s efforts last year. Like Twin Shadow, he attributes his sound to marathon movie watching along with so many bad 80s pop songs. But like that project, this one is considerably more dance-orientated. Perhaps it is that Italo influence which can be clearly felt on each track. As I listen to this, I sort of want to reach for my Cold Wave compilation, mix this in with that, and see if I can pick his stuff out from it. Could I do it?
Having actually done that, this fits in like a glove. There’s no ironic or coy treatment of the 80s here. Jim really enjoys this kind of music, and has no problem with creating his own identity with these 9 songs. Considering all the 80s stuff going around, he’s definitely head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd. This is good stuff.