I really like Lismore. The band, not the NSW hippie den. Thinking about it, I’ve been actively tracking Lismore for at least a year now, so why exactly it’s taken me this long to do a post on them is quite beyond me. Thankfully Penelope and Stephen Lismore (that’s just shorthand, I don’t think they’re actually married or related) must have sensed my inherent laziness, because we recieved a tasty, tasty MP3 laden email from them just recently and all of a sudden BAM! I am a man of action. Blog action. I look amazing in lycra.

Lismore is (as has been previously suggested) the guy-girl combo of Ohio born Stephen and Australian born Penelope. Together they craft beautifully layered yet immediately accessible electro-pop gems with equal eyes for the dancefloor and the at-home listener. I first fell into their music via the wonderful Resonator Magazine, who have been having a long-standing love affair with the band. The first song I was exposed to was this haunting and almost ambient rendition of the Smashing Pumpkins’ 1979, a brilliant piece of mixtape fodder if ever I’ve heard it… The type you give to girls, not the type you use to relentlessly promo your totally pimping Ableton skillz.

Lismore - 1979 (Smashing Pumpkins Cover)

This gave me a fairly misleading take on the band though, and I was (pleasantly) surprised to discover that the rest of their output was considerably more upbeat and propulsive. Although that’s not to suggest that Lismore is in the business of banger-making. Their instrumentation is far too sophisticated and interesting, and the beats too unhurried to ‘tear apart’ the average electro dancefloor. They make instead slightly dirty, vocal led, 80s inspired pop with touches of guitar and 8-bit, songs that immediately capture your attention and set your head to nodding. It’s the kind of stuff that gets your pre-party arcing up for the night ahead, which is a breed of music that I can always deal with more of.

Lismore - All That You Are

Lismore - More

Fortunately, there are others willing to take the Lismore kids in a more immediately dancefloor friendly direction, and Udachi and AC Slater have both turned in nifty little remixes that up the energy and bulk out the beats. The Udachi remix of ‘Paradis’ oscillates between dirty and euphoric with rally driver precision, grinding happily along the verses before unleashing with some upbeat synth madness in the chorus. Makes me smile every time. Meanwhile AC Slater has whipped up a fidgety take on ‘More’, which ups the BPMs and morphs Penelope’s vocal into a blistering percussive hook. Brilliant stuff.

Lismore - Paradis (Udachi Remix)

Lismore - More (AC Slater Remix)

Lismore are taking their purportedly off-the-charts live show through America over the next month, so head to their MySpace and see if they’re kind enough to be coming your way. In the meantime, 2007’s ‘All That You Are’ EP is available through iTunes, which should tide you over until an as yet untitled LP comes out later this year. More on that when I hear about it. Now, get to it and start enjoying some of the best music the blogs are likely to serve you.

-luke