Comfort — What's Bad Enough?

The problem, or at least one of many, in a sibling group is the danger that you might only know how to talk to one another, leaving the rest of us either irked at the hermeticism of the familial language, or simply too annoyed to bother. Whether instinctual or not – and when it comes to electronics, instinct is sort of a weird fit – Comfort have apparently gained a kind of following for their relational affinities, but none of that should get in the way of enjoying what is on offer. Should is relative, like those inauspicious vocal deliveries and predictable beats that march along with them. It's perhaps a great feat, in the end, to manage something so formulaic while doing one's best to be anything but.

What's Bad Enough?, in all of its self-sameness – forced lyrics and plug-in happy production – is the poetry we have come to merit, and I am sure that with as much attention to the legacy of trip-hop and all that comes out of that cramped little isle, the duo surely gave more than one second of thought before attempting to craft twelve tracks, the final of which, "Wild and Fragile", sounds like an anthem alright. There are some pretty fantastic moments of minimalist techno if you can get past the vocals, but they are quickly swallowed by the gaping maw of late-millenial misuses of the term, DIY.

The genre here is a bit fluid, moving at times between complex electronica and vocal-driven attacks, but this should be right at home for aficionados of the label, Fat Cat. And for those interested in a rejoinder to the meh that is influence, there is sure to be something redeemable, or not. Not knowing is Comfort's weapon of choice.