Balún's debut CD is a swirling mix of lo-fi electronics and old-school instruments that puts to rest the idea that all indie electronic music sounds the same. Indeed unlike many bands who could be called indie electronic, the trio from San Juan fully integrates the electronics involved so that many of their songs (like "Moving Pictures" or "To My Room") would sound right at home on an Artificial Intelligence compilation or on a mix next to
Aphex Twin,
Modest Mouse, and
Plone. To put it another way, the electronic songs on the album sound like they could be pop songs, while the indie pop songs sound like they could be techno instrumentals. Not too many groups have been able to pull this feat off with much success but
Balún makes it look easy. While all three members provide synth and programming expertise, Angelica Negron is the secret weapon, contributing beautiful accordion and violin passages along with her childlike but not childish vocals. Her accordion especially gives the record a moody, almost elegiac quality. Tracks like "I Shouldn't Do This" and "Snol" sound like they were taken from the soundtrack to the saddest breakup movie of the summer, and "Be Careful When You Walk" sounds like an unholy mash-up of
New Order,
Seefeel, and
Astor Piazzolla. Most everything else sounds like what you wish every indie electronic artist would do, only sadder. Occasionally the group breaks out of their funk and gets almost funky, like on the speedy, acid house-sounding "People" (which nonetheless has a mournful, accordion-led bridge) or cheerfully chirpy on "Everything's Alright," but mostly they are content to float on a cloud of atmospheric melancholy. They even manage to out-slow
Slowdive on the shoegaze threnody "They're Calling Us," which helps end the album on a decidedly blue note. By the time the next track, the heartbroken "Disappearing Act," ends you will either be ready for therapy or for going back to the beginning of the disc. On
Something Comes Our Way,
Balún has created a very fine record, one that will appeal to lovers of both sad indie pop and inventive electronic music. ~ Tim Sendra