How the hell did I end up here?
Lipka. An ambigram is cryptically emblazoned on the cover. The name of the album is tiny: «Spaceship of Love». The disc itself is just as reduced as the cover, with only this writing. Lipka. My face is reflected in the disc and in my eyes I see curiosity.
The first song is called Spaceship I. Well, it's more of an intro, only 55 seconds long, and it actually sounds like outer space. It echoes: «It's the end of the show, we'd like to thank you all for coming…» – A little helplessly, I have to laugh at my own confusion. – «I came… very hard.» That's clear. The intro slowly fades out and I get ready for something anarchistic.
Easy girls with daddy issues
Suddenly, Union Square Kids hops up and down like young deer, carefree. Restlessly, the fingers rush over the piano keys until a full beat takes over the burden of the rhythm. So, Lipka make danceable electro-pop. The song triggers images of days gone by in me. Childhood memories. Damn, are Lipka so good that they win me over at the first attempt? Am I such a loose woman? Forgive me, a boy, of course.
Well, easy girls and cheeky boys don't behave themselves when Daddy comes. So why is Lipka so Sunday-best here? The easy girl has a father complex, and Lipka talks about Daddy in a tragically amorous way, how he drinks himself sick and writes a novel. I'm getting sleepy.
No party without beer
«Don't wanna be alone, don't wanna stay at home, just wanna go out and party.» Now the duo from French-speaking Switzerland appeals to me again. Don't worry, this isn't a boring party anthem. Just because some songs sound easy-going, Lipka has nothing to do with superficiality and tuned mainstream. At least, that's what the press release says.
«If you wanna party with me, you got to give me your money.» Damn, that's right. These days, you can't have a party without money. Etienne Maître and Felix Landis say what we've all secretly been thinking. You don't always need money to party; a cool beer will do. Fizz!
Now it's time to get down to business. The fat beat from Union Square Kids is back. I missed him. He is pure fuel for my dancing leg.
Hey party people! I know your having fun now! Hey party people! And I don't wanna ruin it. But hey DJ! Turn out that music real quick, ‘cause I got something to say: I think we're running out of beer!
I hate Lipka. They end the party before it has even begun. Well, Lipka were honest enough to promise at the beginning that this was the end of the show. You have to love them for that at least.
Enough alcohol is still circulating in our bloodstream. Knife is pumping, driving and still frightening. All in the fog of intoxication. This is not a good intoxication. It is the dark side of alcohol that we all know only too well.
Hangover in outer space
I roll around in the sheets. Dark circles under my eyes down to the back of my knees. Lipka's They Asked Me lulls me out of bed with gentle and spherical sounds. Morning people have bad breath. Not much more of this song sticks in my head. Lipka pull me back out into the world.
Marching. The falsetto voice of Felix Landis is as fragile as a newborn and as steadfast as a soldier. Somewhere in the maelstrom of lo-fi, hip-hop and electrified pop, the spaceship of love actually floats in space. Peanuts also sounds clinical, white, pure like Kubrick's spaceship in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
How the hell did I end up here? Just a moment ago, I was laughing with the kids, partying and waking up in bed with a hangover... Spaceship II. «We don't know where the hell we're going.» Well, that's reassuring: They don't know either.
Now I have the CD in my hands again. The curiosity in my eyes has disappeared. Instead, an enraptured irritation is written on my face.
Lipka – Spaceship of Love
Release: 13/06/2014
- Spaceship I
- Union Square Kids
- Daddy
- Party With Me
- No More Beere
- Knife
- They Asked Me
- Marching
- Peanuts
- Spaceship II
