Understanding Fischerspooner.
Fischerspooner is one of the most overhyped groups to come out of New York City in a long time, but don't hold that against them. Like the Strokes?credited with reinventing rock in NYC by know-nothing critics?Fischerspooner's rise has unfortunately been lumped in with a supposedly burgeoning movement of retro-80s electroclash. But their first major release, #1 (Capitol Records), is chock full of late-70s influences, including Kraftwerk, Gary Numan and Giorgio Moroder.
Fischerspooner is almost impossible to categorize, and its core members?Casey Spooner and Warren Fischer?like it that way. This is also one reason for their fans' hardcore devotion. I remember folks in line being herded like cattle last year on a narrow Soho street outside of Deitch Projects, and another line that stretched around the block at Irving Plaza in November. Journalists have called them new New Wave, electropop, tech-pop and art-rock.
Whatever category you think they fall into, the music on #1 is undeniably fun. Of course it includes crowd favorites like "The 15th"?which is dominated by Warren's digitized beats and Casey's melancholic vocals?and the club smash "Emerge," Fischerspooner's first single, described in their press material as "an electronic anthem of a mission statement." Everything should be taken more than slightly tongue in cheek, as the first line of "Emerge" is "Hyper?Hyper Mediocrity." Listening to the album, one has the sense of being at a couture show in Bryant Park, or maybe at a Brooklyn lounge sipping a cocktail. But you can't have the full experience of their music unless you're watching them perform on stage. Casey and Warren?along with their troupe of bedazzled and sometimes acrobatic dancers, their psychedelic light and video shows (they've been known to have their dressing room flashing on gigantic screens)?are performance artists and media masters at heart.
Their elaborate stage shows, which feature up to a dozen dancers and singers, multiple costume changes and loads of glam-rock makeup, echo Ziggy Stardust and even Alice Cooper. They've often been compared to New Order and the Pet Shop Boys, which is understandable, but some of their lyrical and musical roots can also be heard in the Smiths and Morrissey. A colleague opined that perhaps the best comparison might be to Madonna?another pop artist known for her flamboyant stage shows, an ongoing love affair with dance beats and overproduced, mind-blowing videos.
By now, the duo's bio is well known. Casey and Warren met while attending Chicago's Art Institute. Their first performance, a smashing success, was in 1998 at the Astor Place Starbucks. Since then, they've been written up in Vanity Fair, Spin, Interview and other glossies. They've also performed at a variety of venues?including two appearances last year on the BBC's "Top of the Pops" (one with Kylie Minogue). Casey told me they wouldn't mind collaborating with P. Diddy, adding, "We'd never break his heart."
#1 contains several songs ready made for success in discotheques across the globe, including a faster remix of "Emerge" and the synth sounds of "Horizon." Don't try to decode all their lyrics; their ample use of a vocoder and other digital tricks makes it tough. Besides, it's the mood and the who-gives-a-fuck spirit of Fischerspooner's performance that makes the group a pleasure to see. What can people expect from their upcoming show? According to Casey, it'll be "the widescreen version of our patented glamorous, fun lovin', naked party-animal selves?just with no pyro."
Fischerspooner plays Weds., April 9, at Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 W. 34th St. (betw. 8th & 9th Aves.), 212-279-7740.