Perfect Life

Levinhurst

Full Contact

Recommended if you like: The…

Perfect Life

Levinhurst

Full Contact

Recommended if you like: The Buggals, Chemical Brothers

When Levin Tolhurst started The Cure in 1976, he had no idea what impact his band would have on music until this very day — many popular artists, such as Coldplay, claim them as one of their major musical influences.

Tolhurst left the band in 1989 and after a failed attempt to start another project; he seemed to vanish from the music scene. Now he reappears in the band Levinhurst, with his wife, Cindy Levinson, on vocals and Dayton Borders adding his own musical flair.

Levinhurst’s debut album Perfect Life is a full-fledged step into a time machine. This time machine takes you back to the early ’80s when bands like The Buggals, Flock of Seagulls and Devo ruled the airwaves with their delicious sounds. Then, it adds on a modern electronica sound with fast beats behind Levinson’s angelic voice. Their sound is a creative way to bring back those old ’80s sounds we all hate to love.

After a long intro track “Vinti,” you hear a fantastic introduction the album with the track “Let’s Go” — which had Levin Tolhurst written all over it. His tight keyboard styles are reflected in this ’80s-inspired track and in others like “More/Maid” and “Hope.”

When you get into songs like “Sorrow” and “Behind Me,” you can hear more of the modern electronica influences start to seep in. There may be some modest club hits in here if the album gets into the right hands.

Its one fatal flaw is sounding the same throughout, a flaw that seems to happen to most electronica bands. The songs seem to run together into one. It has good beats in it, but I find myself getting lost very easily.

Though it has a touch of The Cure’s keyboard sound, don’t buy this album expecting to hear The Cure. It’s not a rock album. It is all electronically synthesized, and does not contain one hint of guitar.

Although it reflects some of their style, it is a completely different sound all together. One thing that it does prove is that Tolhurst’s keyboard skills and ability to play with sound will continue to live on past his legacy with The Cure.