EP REVIEW: Party Time! – Imodium Party Animal

IMODIUM PARTY ANIMAL come at the summer with brand new EP Party Time! that encapsulates the nostalgia of 90s trance in combination with a slightly gothic push into synthwave territory, while circling around this concoction with a thick metal coating.

Cowards is a powerful pump up first track, not putting too much out there initially but teasing enough to draw you in, but it’s second track Blown-Away Barbara that will challenge if you are on board or not. Twisting through some fun, stompy key changes, chunky guitars and tension building choral vocals pop between boppy techno synths. While it’s quite a fun concept, it does lack a little of what makes trance fun, which is the constant layering and deconstructing of melodic elements, rather than just changing the key around.

Unfortunately, Jester’s Party, while seemingly intermingled in a blended beat match with Blown-Away Barbara, does come across as pretty bland and irrelevant, which feels ironic given its sour narrative digging at the mundane. There’s some atmosphere for sure, and the mix in itself is pretty solid. It does have to be said, the guitars are hammed up to the nth degree in the best possible way. There’s just something missing that would really elevate this.

The SCOOTER cover, Nessaja, is a blast and does show that IMODIUM PARTY ANIMAL know how to mix and create in a fun and experimental way. Last Dance also almost hits the sweet spot, but they desperately need to work on some elements of these tracks. Punctuating stops in each tune to shift into something not totally different to what’s gone on already are just annoying and take away a lot of momentum without giving anything back. Likewise, just pushing into a completely new tempo also feels messy and uneven, and doesn’t show any skill. One or two changes are very well executed, but with them happening constantly they do get lost and could really cause people to not get what IMODIUM PARTY ANIMAL are.

There is such potential with the combination of techno and metal, and genuine promise within this EP. With more conviction to sit in one pocket and really play with the layers, to commit more wholeheartedly to a bombastic experience, rather than flip flopping so much, IMODIUM PARTY ANIMAL could be on to a really cool thing here. Unfortunately though, Party Time! is at best just a decent time when it really should be a great one.

Rating: 6/10

Party Time! is out now via IPA Records.

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