Siinai

Albums from Finnish instrumentalists Siinai tend to pinpoint on a theme, their previous album taking on the jubilation of competition and glory of victory as subject matter. Here they move on to an attempt to encapsulate supermarket culture, ostensibly working to capture the drudgery of a necessary chore in their incessant chugging beats and the slick flicker of fluorescent in their Vangelis sheen. Now the idea seems to be that somewhere between the repeated imagery of cans on a shelf and the sensory deprivation of recycled air people snap into automaton territory. I for one rather enjoy grocery shopping, with bins of produce inspiring nights of cooking but the bigger the box store that this is happening in the more their disorienting grooves seem prescient. If, say, this was to soundtrack a hellish tape loop visit to Walmart that winds up with endless aisle walking, hoping vainly for some assistance from anyone in a stenciled vest, then yeah the sense of unease and dread at the edges of Supermarket are on the nose. Its certainly an album of its time, though rooted in the Krautrock burbling of plastic synth, it transcends is influences to lock right in to our societal need to calm through consumption. Maybe with a pair of headphones and some light wandering, the next trip to the store can be more of an odyssey than a chore with Siinai at the helm.

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