20goto10
tears from the electric eye
Sword in Skull Records

When I think of the word organic, I'm thinking tofu. I'm thinking flaxseed oil. Soymilk. Non-fat yogurt. Perhaps I'm just predisposed, but I'm thinking health food store. In fact, quite possibly, the last thing on my mind are computers, synthesizers, Alan Vega or any other element that could be shoehorned into a clever "Six Degress of Depeche Mode" game.

Yet, somehow listening to local synthpop outfit, 20goto10, I'm thinking about Philip K. Dick's precursor to Blade Runner and how technology transcends humanity in reverse. Strange. The approach to technology is so heartfelt here. The acknowledgement of that New Wave is indeed alive. Engaged. Attractive. And yeah, well... organic.

But it's best for me not to get ahead of myself.

The 1970s paved the way for home computers and synthpop to come into all of our lives--hand in glorious mechanical hand. Kids in my neighborhood were exploring the BASIC language in their "Intro to Programming" courses, where the command "20 GO TO 10" would keep looping between command lines, until someone hit the Break key. After class, we'd listen to Suicide and Kraftwerk who were marrying Farfisa organs and primitive drum machines with cyberlike precision. Somehow, that connection escaped all of us, until Gary Numan and the Human League and Yazoo and early Depeche Mode entered the classroom periphery.

20goto10 has picked up where all of the old guard has left off and somehow managed to transcend the very things synthpop/electropop is most chided for: those infernal ghosts in the machine. There's a heart behind those keyboards and Intel processors and her name is Sara Eugene. Vocally, she recalls Alison Moyet at many turns, making the broad synth brushstrokes of "Make Sense" do exactly so. "Corvette" features a strong and chunky mid-tempo rhythm, as does without you. And the Italian vocals on "La Soddisafazione Del Mare" are dead sexy in a Pink Martini sort of way.

Bill Manke and Matthew Sturgeon anchor tears from the electric eye in a way that folks like Vega and Martin Rev would be proud of. Tracks like "Humannequin" and "In My Dream You're Real" are true examples of where the musical balance helps embellish and equalize the human emotions that Eugene can deliver. And I'm loving on the Korgs and Moogs, as they just make every cut even tastier and more classic-sounding.

They list Soft Cell, Tangerine Dream, Eurythmics, Berlin, Ultravox, A Flock of Seagulls and Italian horror film scores as influences. All make perfect sense here and fans of any of these acts mentioned will find something old and new within the disc's melodic contents.

I'm anxious to hear Elizabeth, Haunted By Ghosts--a new musical project that 20goto10 is in the process of completing. But I am just as curious to see and hear what these folks are capable of in a live setting; these 16 tracks definitely set the bar of expectation pretty high. We all get the chance at Peabody's Down Under this Saturday, October 29th as 20goto10 share a bill that includes Stylex, Grand Buffet, and Gil Mantera's Party Dream.

So, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? If so, 20goto10 is most certainly the soundtrack.

http://www.20goto10.us/home.htm

From Cool Cleveland contributor Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com

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