TITLE: 2011: A Space Odyssey
LABEL: Metal Postcard
REVIEW: Straight outta Phnom Penh, the Cambodian Space Project play 1960’s-style Cambodian rock with a 21st century twist. If that sounds familiar, then you’re probably already thinking about the enormously successful American band Dengue Fever, who have a similar modus operandi. Compared to their more famous predecessor, CSP is a bit punkier, certainly less sophisticated and wide-ranging in their influences, and their original material just doesn’t yet stack up to their Ros Sereysothea and Pan Ron covers. Of course, Dengue Fever started as a cover band themselves, so let’s give CSP a bit more time. For a first album, this is pretty superb stuff -- a great cover of Sereysothea’s “I’m Sixteen” (track 5), a kind of folk-rock vibe on 6, hard-hitting power pop (7), and a New York Dolls-meets-Cambodia sound on 8. And the piece de resistance is track 9, a mash-up of a Sereysothea lyric with the one and only American hit by Dutch band Shocking Blue (yeah, you know the song). One of my favorite debuts of the year.
TOP TRACKS: 5 6 7 8 9
ALSO RECOMMENDED: 1 2 3
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