If there’s one thing consistent about Fonda 500 it is that they appear to revel in providing the unexpected, and even more audaciously, seem to come up trumps almost every time. Digital Space Pop is no different as far as the latter’s concerned, sounding like the theme tune from ‘Barbarella’ on helium and aided by some proper bumpin’ beats from da house, which may suggest that Fonda 500 are aiming their sights for filling the floor at the Ministry of Sound rather than Club Fandango. Oi! You in the corner, don’t snigger. After all, it worked for The Shamen, didn’t it?
Dutch duo Zea meanwhile offer something that finds a kinship with in more familiar territories, such as those occupied by Bis and Helen Love, as the simple melody of We Buried Indie Rock Years Ago bounces along on it’s Casio while the song itself pays homage to such luminaries as Superchunk and The Lemonheads.
If those two delightful ditties don’t tempt you into buying this single, then the fact that it’s on seven-inch vinyl should. The scent of roses hasn’t smelt this sweet in the underground for ages.
[DoSomethingPretty.com – October 2003]
Lastly, but by absolutely no means leastly, let’s grab ourselves a little slab of vinyl happiness that came our way thanks to those nice folks at Truck and Transformed Dream Records, namely the split single that is Fonda 500’s Digital Space Pop and ex-SOTW-ers Zea’s We Buried Indie Rock Years Ago.
Hull’s finest (sorry, the Beautiful South, but it’s been too long since your last ace offering) are on corking form, with their effort recalling both the abusedly askew organ of Grandaddy’s A.M. 180 and the cannonballing brouhaha that brought God! Show Me Magic to its clattering climax, while Zea run through an ever-more-obscure catalogue of mostly-90s alt.ers (including not only Bettie Serveert but, oh yes, 22 Pistepirrko. Lawks!) to a hi-octane sneer not exactly on a different continent to bis; basically, like its ancestor ‘On Tape’ some fifteen years ago, it’s an anti-Peel song that the great Mr Ravenscroft’ll actually like. As listening goes, inspired and required…
[playlouder.com – Bunch of 45’s 20/10/03-26/10/03]
Scary but compelling stuff as Hollands favourite deranged duo mix it up with Britains kookiest pop absurdists. Fonda 500 are another ensemble who seem to have been away from the hi-fi for what seems like an age. Here they contribute Digital Space Pop armed with lunar hats and visors you too can get to be Robbie the Robot as the devilish Fonda crew take us to deep space to play chicken with the meteors armed with a ditty that vaguely sounds to these ears like a perfect dose of Quickspace, nowt wrong with that, toy town electronics cruise mischievously keeping in the incessant vocodor nagging at bay. Zea have already had us wowing with their second album and handful of prime cut psychotic electronic pop singles earlier this year, We Buried Indie Rock Years Ago dispels any notion that they are running out of steam, a stupendous friction based rocker replete with all the crooked dead ends youve come to love and expect and the perfect antithesis of Sebadohs Gimme Indie Rock and cut from a dinky Bis vs Sarah records cloth.
[LosingToday.com – October 2003]
Mittlerweile entdecken immer mehr Punk-Bands abgefahrenen Synthipunk für sich, bei dem in einigen Fällen mittlerweile ganz auf herkömmliche Instrumente wie Gitarren oder Schlagzeug verzichtet wird.
In Holland zelebriert das auf eindrucksvolle Weise schon seit einigen Jahren die geniale Band ZEA, die zwar weniger mit Punk als mit Noise und Independent am Hut hat. Da aber das Schaffen von ZEA bei weitem über diesen Stil hinaus geht, (man erinnere sich an meine beiden vorherigen Reviews der beiden CDs, u.a. im letzten Ox), benennt die Band ihren Song konsequent We Buried Indie Rock Years Ago. Es festigt mich in meiner bereits geäußerten Ansicht, dass es, was Innovation und Genialität angeht, derzeit kaum Bands gibt, die mich derart überzeugen.
Besonderes Glück bringt die Tatsache mit sich, dass es sich um eine Split Single handelt. Denn was die mir bis dato unbekannten FONDA 500 bieten, heißt nicht nur Digital Space Pop, sondern ist auch welcher. Nicht dass sich da noch wer den Thron teilen muss. (10)
Claus Wittwer
[Ox Fanzine – Issue 53]
Dankzij de hele stroom aan lidwoordbandjes mag de 7″-single dan aan een opleving bezig zijn, het proces van verschijnen, ter ore komen, bestellen bij de winkel, daar uitgeleverd worden, kopen en uiteindelijk hier besproken worden duurde ruim drie maanden. En dat voor een van de allerleukste singles van de afgelopen tijd, die nota bene gewoon in Nederland is verschenen. En die alleen al om de kant van Zea een must-have is voor elke indieliefhebber met een beetje gevoel voor humor. Vanwege de titel We Buried Indierock Years Ago, vanwege het vele namedropping van jaren ’90-indierockgroepen maar ook vooral vanwege het geweldige indie-electropunknummer zelf. Alsof we niet al wisten dat Zea geen gelijke kent in Nederland – en daarbuiten toch ook amper. En op kant b staat dus Fonda 500, met een leuk en erg kenmerkend Fonda 500-nummer. Ook leuk natuurlijk, maar zelfs met Fransje Bauer hier was deze single nog de aanschaf driedubbel en dwars waard.
Martijn Grooten
[ThinkSmall.nl – februari 2004]