Keep Shelly In Athens ‎- At Home (2013)

Keep Shelly In Athens’ name is a pun on the Kypseli neighborhood in the Greek capital and their debut LP At Home often takes the tone of a homesick tour diary; you can’t help but feel that the album title is a wish or a mantra. And yet, while I’m willing to admit that I’ve never been to Greece, I have been to New York City, and for all of its superficial hometown pride, At Home actually suffers from the same criticisms as post-Giuliani Gotham: it wants to remind visitors of a cutting edge, artistic vitality fostered in the 1980s while keeping the attendant danger at a very safe distance.

At Home’s mid-fi synth production begs the usual descriptors: swooning, soft-focus, the sort of thing often considered “dream-pop” for the way it reminds people of the things they use to achieve a waking dream state: sex, drugs, druggy sex, sexy drugs. But KSIA’s approach is staunchly risk-averse and gentrified. Sarah P’s delivery has the requisite breathiness and her words are suggestive, though reverb always renders her as an observer rather than a participant. The only exception is an sparingly deployed distorted effect that makes her sound exactly like Karen O, but despite its confrontational tone, it’s just another obfuscation. Her partner RNR’s aesthetic is also a typical bedroom producer homebrew of smudge and sheen-- no texture here would be too radical or abrasive for any Cocteau Twins record despite its occasional nod towards harsher tones of post-dubstep or hip-hop. Nor would any retail manager in 2013 run afoul of their superiors if they played this during business hours.

Which isn’t exactly a selling point, since it’s hard to think of At Home outside the context of the dozens, if not hundreds, of aspiring, wavy synth-pop duos that remind you why Purity Ring and CHVRCHES have shot up towards festival status in such a short time. They're the exceptions in a style where most bands barely even try to establish a distinct personality, let alone write killer hooks. Certain production touches lend the songs on At Home variance from each other, but not much KSIA can claim as their own. The possible Black Flag reference of “Room 14 (I’m Fine)” hints at punk ideals underneath a feathery, Inc.-like guitar figure, and the lyrics of “DIY” do the same, though “you may dream of glory/ shabbiness is your story” isn’t the kind of mission statement that makes you go wild and spray paint the walls.