On iTunes, Muscles are listed under the genre of “dance.” Can you actually dance to it? Well, kind of. A more important question: Do the nerve endings of each brain cell dance with musical pleasure when they hear Muscles? Absolutely!
A one-man, keyboard-and-computer-playing techno-hipster from Australia lays down the pop-tastic beats in Muscles debut full-length album, Guns Babes Lemonade. On his Myspace, Muscles catalogs himself as gospel, techno and soul — three genres that, when combined, make irresistible electronic music. Frequently overdubbing his voice to create the sensation of a shouting ensemble of people, Muscles has fashioned the perfect sound of soul for the contemporary indie listener. His many overdubbed voices set the soulful mood on the opening track, “Sweaty,” when they cry out, “My hand slipped into your hand, and it was awesome, and you were special.” Songs about hand-holding, ice cream saving the day, keeping crushes in your pocket and having Muscles’ babies compose a nearly 45-minute mind-infusing work of techno art.
As a work of gospel, this album speaks to listeners outside of the indie realm. Frat boys, Muscles should be your go-to track list when after-hours are just getting started and you’re tired of the same popular songs every party has been playing. His beats are just fast enough to get a good groove going, but the lyrics are also intelligent enough to get a conversation started, if that’s what you’re into. And if your frat brothers aren’t ready to hear something besides Kanye, then at least test it out at the gym … he’s not called Muscles for nothing!
But femmes, don’t fear! Muscles isn’t just the bodybuilder who knows how to play the ladies. “Jerk” flawlessly represents how he is both that slick dude and also the romantic computer nerd that many-a-girl would love to date. He opens as the smooth jock, shouting, “Hey girl, how do I say your name?/ Are you European?/ Are you Indian or African?” but eventually blends into the dreamy dork saying, “Tug at my heart strings/ right ‘til my heart beats.” Countering boyish shallowness with brawny passion should allow this Aussie to successfully capture the listening attention of both sexes.
If that’s not enough, at just two minutes and four seconds, “Chocolate Raspberry Lemon and Lime,” the shortest track on the album (and also the song on which Muscles comes the closest to actually singing) will truly win over your heart and make you want to bust a move. He sings, “I wish that I could keep you in my pocket/ so I could play with you all the time./ Wrap you up in a little blanket/ Chocolate, raspberry, lemon and lime!” Who wouldn’t want to be wrapped up with those delicious foodstuffs and put in Muscles pocket? Guns Babes Lemonade is one solidly composed track after another, altogether creating a drop-dead gorgeous physique of sound.