Consider Japan’s Guinea Pigs the inverse version of England’s Friendly Fires – whereas that UK band creates dancefloor-appropriate indie rock via heavy use of electronics, the duo of Guinea Pigs uses the same ingredients to make surprisingly insular music. “Songbird” opens up with a dancey beat joined by the type of cheesy percussion additions (recall the conga beats on “Jump In The Pool”), but instead of erupting into a technicolor chaos, the whole affair just gets chilly – robo-tized vocals rubbing cold steel elbows against lonely synths. “Hippo” takes a similar approach but draws the whole thing out and adds in all sorts of crackles and distortions, which make it a surprisingly captivating listen. It’s not an original concept…may I introduce you to A Sunny Day In Glasgow?…but Guinea Pigs do a great job of turning communal thrills into moments of inner solitude.
