Looper: The Geometrid

With its 1999 debut, Up A Tree, Looper (the brainchild of Belle And Sebastian bassist Stuart David) essentially invented a new genre: twee electronica, dance music for people too shy and self-conscious to actually get up and dance. Blending heavily accented, unfailingly precious spoken-word with simple but infectious electronic beats, Up A Tree wasn't earth-shattering, but it carved out a nice little niche for the band. David has since quit Belle And Sebastian, albeit in somewhat noncommittal fashion, to pursue Looper full-time. Perhaps in part to buck the strong side-project feel of Up A Tree, The Geometrid features a substantially beefed-up sound. Which is relative, of course—Looper won't be headlining Ozzfest any time soon—but it's a significant and not altogether successful stylistic departure. When The Geometrid is good, it's extremely good: "On The Flipside" is a gorgeous piece of winsome, evocative electronic pop, while the up-tempo "Money Hair" gets off to a rousing start before fading early. Too much of the album's remainder, however, is forgettable and lukewarm, the work of a band that's still trying to define itself. In largely abandoning the limited but appealing sound it created, Looper has become, for better or worse, just another promising but unremarkable indie-pop band.