Tesla Boy - Thinking Of You

Here’s a band we wrote about an age ago. 368 days ago to be precise. Now they say (although we’re never quite sure who ‘they’ are*) that a year is a long time in pop. Yet pop is like a giant hamster wheel. If you keep running hard enough, eventually things will come round to your way of thinking, as long as you don’t tumble off it, no matter how fast it spins.

Pop is in its middle age, an age where often the luxuries of yesteryear seem as exciting as the new – and the new is ultimately just a reinvention of an old idea. The hamster wheel keeps revolving, fashions come and go and as the ideas run out, the old ones are recycled. Sometimes this recycling is intentional; at other times trying to avoid cliché becomes the biggest cliché of all, as ‘new’ ideas find distant cousins and relatives from the past.

If you are a regular reader you will know that we subscribe to the thoughts of that well known pop theorist Aristotle. ‘It is not once nor twice but times without number that the same ideas make their appearance in the world,’ the Greek philosopher said. Ok, he may not have been Simon Cowell, but it wouldn’t surprise us at all if Aristotle ran his own version of the X Factor around 300 BC and he probably stole the concept from someone else.

Tesla Boy, our second favourite Russian pop band (here without doubt is our first), fully represent a fusion of ideas – reinventing and reinterpreting to create something that is both very much of the past ( hello 1984-1986 ) and the future. Their hamster wheel has spun so fast that everything has just become a blur, but it’s a blur that is also flashing discotheque of an oasis with synths that swirl and funky bass that grooves like it wants sex now. This is the video for their new single. It’s called Thinking Of You. It's out June 28th.

* Actually we are sure who ‘they’ are. They include The Guardian and even a certain Breaking More Waves blog back in 2009. We’re hope you’re still with us, and the logic is seeping through, but there’s a central theory and argument that we've been running with here.That’s why sometimes we repeat ourselves. The past has a way of repeating itself. The past has a way of repeating itself. See what we did there ? No you miss the point. The hamster wheel keeps spinning. Just like the past repeated itself right at the start of everything. Almost two years ago to the day. This link here explains, thanks to an old granny.

Tesla Boy - New Waves @ Breaking More Waves

Despite the name, Tesla Boy are not an OMD tribute band, but there is no doubt that they are another group who have opened the cupboard that has been padlocked for a long time; since the eighties to be exact. With song titles like Neon Love and Electric Lady it’s not hard to imagine the sound they make, but we’ll give you a big clue - it doesn’t involve lots of feedback laden guitars or angry shouting.

Tesla Boy are from Moscow, and consist of Anton Sevidov (Vocals), Dima Midborn (Bass) and the rather unfortunately named Boris Lifshits (Drums). With a Russian directness Anton sings “I wanna make love with you all night,” on the aforementioned Electric Lady and “I am so gone, I want your love,” on Neon Love; these boys know what they want for sure. There’s a pulsing camp pop tone to Tesla Boy, the kind of thing Popjustice would love. In fact they already do, having made Electric Lady their song of the day a few months back. Listening to Tesla Boy we can hear hints of European synth bands such as Kraftwerk, The Human League, Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode but without the austere coolness, as well as the ambience of eighties American films such as Footloose and The Breakfast Club.

Tesla Boy are very now, but they are also very then. Retro futurist is a term that fits perfectly. They may be too derivative for most, but their mix of interweaving nostalgic synthpop disco sounds and neat melodies could delight the dance floor.