The most important thing about
Flowchart is their striking "resemblance" to
Stereolab -- some of the songs on
Multi-Personality Tabletop Vacation seem liks perfect replicas of Space Age Bachelor Pad or Mars Audiac Quintet-era Lab. And don't think it's accidental; one of the songs on the album is actually called "New Radiolab Rip-Off." Then again,
Stereolab's sound is interesting enough -- and different enough from the bulk of pop music -- that there's room for other bands to explore the territory.
Flowchart doesn't live up to the brilliance of the Lab, but most of the songs on this album are very worthwhile on their own, concentrating on droning guitars, oscillating organs, and the sweet loungy vocals of their model. You can look at it three ways: (a) they're shameless imitators, (b) they're a fairly good band who would probably be regarded as geniuses if
Stereolab didn't exist, or (c) their work is a good diversion between Lab albums.