Disco Is Not Dead

De Lux is a very young band, arriving just two years ago, and Generation is only their second album. The two that make up De Lux are fairly young as well at just 22 years old. Despite their age, the duo choose to dabble in and revitalize a genre well beyond their years: disco. De Lux take the funk and club sounds of the 70s and 80s and layer on the synthesizer along with some satirical social commentary, all resulting in post-disco punk.

This is the formula for sound that Generation follows: Upon first listen, the album sounds pretty straight forward, bordering on monotonous. Only a few songs stand out during that first listen, like “Simba Simba Simba” with its more upbeat funk sound. With the second listen, though, something becomes apparent — the story Generation is telling through both the lyrics and the general darker progress of the sound.

Generation is telling the biography of someone at the point of crossing into full-on adulthood. The first three tracks go back and forth between moments of optimism and cynicism. Then comes “Simba Simba Simba” as an anthem of individuality, avoiding the pull of either side of an argument. Here, though, is the turn. The feelings of any quarter-life crisis start to settle in and are represented by the next three tracks: “No One Really Care Who You Are,” “Oh Man The Future” and “When Your Life Feels Like a Loss.”

All three sum up feelings of anxiety over lost identity, societal issues, and the general aspect of the future as a full-fledged adult.The story of Generation does reach a resolution with its concluding song “Someday Now,” promising that though life does not get completely fixed or 100% better, things will at least be okay.