Flash Fiktion

Flash Fiktion is all about “celebrating music, fantasy, bright colors and vivid stories,” according to its Facebook entry. Just what such a statement actually means, at least when it comes to describing music, is questionable at best. What’s beyond question, however, is the pleasure this self-titled album brings.

Based in London, UK, Flash Fiktion is a three-member band that creates what it calls “technicolured dream-pop storybook.” Once again, this may be the drugs talking. Nevertheless, songs like “The Rapture of Your Design” just leave the listener feeling grand. It’s truly the musical equivalent to “bright colors.” The song brings back the bright sonic environment of ‘80s pop. Those were the days when The Human League and the Thompson Twins filled the charts with happy, sometimes semi-serious pop gems that got stuck in your head and could only be detached -- except by time or serious surgery. Just the title alone, “The Rapture of Your Design,” suggests a love for the visual. Music that is both aural and visual, like Flash Fiktion’s, is truly beautiful to behold. “You make it seem like the world is fine,” they say when describing a particularly fine human specimen. The same can be said of Flash Fiktion; they actually make it seem like our recession plagued modern world is a happier place than Disneyland.

Another track, called “Metamorphosise,” is driven by bounding percussion, and marries Haircut 100 Hundred with something kitschy cool, such as Adam Ant. The song’s lyric is more positive than a self-help book. It talks about avoiding fear, and entertaining proactive change, instead. Good advice.

Then there’s “Artificial Colours,” which sounds the way Talking Heads might have sounded, had they come along during the era of various electronic musical forms. It’s dance-pop that is stripped down entirely to its essential elements.

Let’s hope Flash Fiktion is more than just a flash in the pan because this music is a filling meal that really sticks to the ribs.