Ninteynine Worlds of Science, Worlds of Population, Worlds of Robots by: Steve Scully Mon:23-Jul-07 Label: Unstable Ape Year: 2007 WB rating 14 out of 100

A relatively cool, up-beat organ opens Worlds of Science, Worlds of Population, Worlds of Robots. That’s as far as I’ll go compliments-wise. In short, you’ll find more impressive Melbourne artists beat-boxing on the steps of Flinders Street station.

There are bands that can be described as ‘mature’, they have a sense of cohesion and ready-made direction in the way they carry themselves. There are other bands who, despite their age or experience, always sound like amateurs. Ninetynine’s sound is very much in the latter camp: consistently off-key vocals and clumsy chord-changes are hallmarks of Worlds of Science, but while the modern era of rock finds flawed performers revered for their character or honesty – The Drones’ clunky, laboured sound; Wayne Coyne’s vocal ineptness; Meg White’s ‘drumming’ – Ninetynine do not deserve a similar appraisal.

For one, the vocals are nauseating. Whilst she stretches for Bjork’s wails and Maynard’s rhythmic rants, Laura Macfarlane never succeeds in either earning or demanding the listener’s respect. Through discipline and hard-work, singers with less talent than she have made themselves well-known: they know their limits, and work on the character of their voice and the quality of their lyrics and melodies to make up for their lack of actual talent. Macfarlane is at best lazy. Rather than building upon the band’s sound, her laborious, off-key, minimalist and unimaginative vocal melodies detract from any of the band’s better qualities.

‘Receiving the Sounds of Science Fiction’ – the album opener with that nice organ part – is poor and forgettable, but it is short enough not to be completely unbearable. The subsequent track ‘Highway Delights’ is nothing short of insulting. As was the case in the first track, Macfarlane holds notes too long, laying bare her monotonous voice and lack of versatility. The lyrics are short and inconsequential – “I’ve gotten so lost in here/I think I’ve been here before/And I’ll keep going round, going round/you look so lost there baby/ I think you’ve been here before/and you’ll keep coming round, coming round” – and only when she poignantly sings, drawn-out and pitch-ignorant, “your head is achiiiiiing,” is there any incisive truth uttered.

So, we’ve concluded that the vocals are a weakness: a fatal flaw. The rhythm section is led by a competent drummer, Cameron Potts. Potts’ fill-ridden approach to keeping time reveals an impressive ability to drum quickly and loudly, and his high-hat work is quite impressive. Breaking down into a tribal-type beat in ‘Highway Delights’ he drives the song admirably, directing it through dynamic variations; similarly he is suitably understated in the slower atmospheric tracks like ‘Objects and Fields’. The production of the album doesn’t play to the band’s strengths, however: the guitar and drums are played heavily and vigorously, but sit far too low in the mix, and some effects on the vocals might have dulled the destructive quality they possess. Overall, Worlds of Science… sounds hollow, rushed and far too empty for a band of self-proclaimed multi-instrumentalists.

A handful of songs are impressive in parts, but let down by inconsistency and poor songwriting. The trumpet and xylophone in ‘Thylacine’ create a nice feel, but are destroyed again by the vocals; ‘Monster’ sounds like a B-side from Tool’s Lateralus, a rather cool guitar riff and some energetic drumming propelling the song forward, but the again the vocals are amateurish at best, lending the song a tiresome, tedious vibe.

I can’t say much more about this album. Whatever Ninetynine’s qualities are that have garnered such favourable responses from labels and punters alike, I don’t know. As hard as I look for a positive, there are too many things standing between me and any sense of enjoyment. Ninetynine may be confident enough in their ability to be presently embarking on a relatively extensive tour of North America, and may lay claim to overseas and local acclaim for each of their previous releases, but there’s nothing on Worlds of Science… to suggest that they’re either more talented, or more worthy of reward than any band in the local scene that begat them.