Midwest Product ‎– Specifics

Midwest Product is (was?) a great band; one of the inaugural artists on Ghostly. Their style is sort of electro-indie; live guitars and drums plus synths and judicious use of electronics. I would say all in all this disc is excellent; every single track on it is good. All in all uptempo and very danceable. I say buy it! My only complaint is that I wish that Ghostly had released the Product on vinyl; Midwest was practically the only band for which they did CD-only releases; not sure why. Unfortunately Midwest seems to be dormant now; they haven't released any new material in almost five years and don't do shows anymore. It's a shame; they were probably my favorite on Ghostly.

SPECIFICS, the first album from Midwest Product, doesn’t sound Midwestern at all. If anything (especially on the first track, “Still Love in the Midwest”), it sounds like a stripped-down, electro New Order, with the mixture of electronics and guitar. Perhaps it’s not surprising that I tend to favor these tracks: the guitar stabs, drum breaks, and synth patches on “Reminder” help convey an emotion that other tracks on this album lack. Though “Pigeons” and “Vitamin” have a nice electro-funk to them, the cool, glitchy “Alternator” or the strangely bestial “Beardman in the City” overshadow them. And one really can’t beat the lovely strings on “A Genuine Display.”