Their 2011 album
Shangri-La was where the duo of
Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans stopped being serious and became a sleek dance music-making machine instead. Jumping ahead a few years to their 2015 record
I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler,
YACHT have gone even further in a pop direction and become happy purveyors of pumped-up, slicked-back jams that range from
Sugar Ray-inspired tracks like the bouncing "I Wanna Fuck You Till I'm Dead" to robotic reggae ("White Mirror"), glittering '80s-lite electro-pop ("Don't Be Rude"), and stomping glam disco (the title track), with a main focus on the type of floor-filling electro-disco bangers that
Donna Summer or
Debbie Harry or
Scissor Sisters would be happy to add to their repertoire. By dialing up the cotton-candy sweetness to 11 and only using the brightest markers in the pack,
Bechtolt and Rob Kieswetter (aka
Bobby Birdman and also a member of
YACHT's live band) create tracks so fluffy and light that it's a wonder they don't just float away in the slightest breeze. Not to be outdone, Evans sings the lyrics with a kind of breathless exuberance that matches the music perfectly. Even when the topics get a little dark or odd, the capital "P" poppiness of the music brushes away any traces of shade, leaving only the most dazzlingly bursts of pinky blue color behind. People looking for a bit more substance from a band that once made concept albums and instituted its own Belief System might wonder what the heck is going on, but anyone who loves pop music that moves feet, brings smiles, and snaps like bubblegum, and who is also deathly tired of the mainstream, will think
I Thought the Future Would Be Cooler is just about the coolest thing around. ~ Tim Sendra