The Bodies Obtained, Dead Plans

Dead Plans, the second album from Detroit band The Bodies Obtained, has a creepy, 1980s-infused sound, with bleak lyrics and a well-thought-out combination of synthesizers. Their first album, From the Top of My Tree, did well, leaving fans in eager anticipation of a follow-up, and Dead Plans, a ten-track album released this past September, gives the duo another opportunity to show off their trippy, depressing concoction of music.

Their talent lies in their ability to combine many swelling synthesizer parts in an intriguing way, which works through layering and with the pleading words carrying above them. On my iTunes, they were listed as “unclassifiable,” but I’m trying my best to categorize or at least describe them. They use so many effects I can hardly keep up. I recognize some of them from my own keyboard, such as “raindrop” and “fantasy.” At times all this chaos sounds like noise, but not to the degree of The Locust, because the vocals stay at a medium level tone, almost rapping or talking occasionally. They’re not as dark as Nine Inch Nails, but darker than Pulp, and definitely place their emphasis on recalling the homage to synthesizers of times past.

On the opener, “Death From Above,” the band sings of impending doom, with the words “Death, you still come,” sounding like a funeral gone electric and an odd bass saxophone solo at the end. “She Wants What She Wants” is a bit more upbeat and jolly, with the repetition of the confession, “We were young / We did what we did.” It fades out with a light beat on the cymbal, which sounds like the end but is only the middle, then erupts back into the complex layering of several synthesizer parts.

They wear their pessimistic attitude on their sleeve, like in “The Perfect Plan,” when they sing, “[You] can’t hide from a sad day.” All The Bodies Obtained’s songs seem to be about plans gone amiss or the consequences of past actions. Basically, they’re not too positive or optimistic. Their sense of humor is also prevalent and a bit harsh. They like using hyperboles, such as, “Did I ruin your life / or just a bad day,” in “Walking on my Head.” I wouldn’t recommend them to the easily offended.