Swipe Me

The sudden success of "Dooh Dooh" had put Denmark duo Barcode Brothers in a position of unwanted early pressure, which might be why they ultimately got stuck with a debut album so steeped in trance-pop cliches — warbly ATB guitars, soft keyboard punctuation, unthreatening bass — that it was almost difficult to listen to without sarcasm. "Keep Me From the Rain" made Angelic sound like Autechre, and "Wake Up" and "Interlude-Electro" stole respectively from Liquid Child and Azzido Da Bass. At times the simplicity bested itself, as in the delightfully weightless twist of "Train" and the album's random use of acid house howls, but there wasn't much else, and the production was so thick and sugary that you couldn't help getting swamped with images of stuffed animals and cereal. — Dean Carlson.