(PIAS/Creative Vibes)

I was first introduced to Vitalic through the Poney EP.  I loved one of the tracks off it that I heard out clubbing so much, that I asked the DJ what it was and bought the record.  On the EP are four equally fantastic tracks: Poney Part 1, Poney Part 2, La Rock 01 and You Prefer Cocaine.  With each combining solid beats, melodic synths, catchy bleeps and those intense build ups and breakdowns, they’ve become dance floor classics.  Later, I also found out that one of my favourite tracks, the Dima remix of The Hacker’s Fadin’ Away, was remixed by none other than Pascal Arbez-Nicolas, aka Vitalic.  Solid electrotech and moving emotional electro?  He had me hooked.

So, I guess I should have loved his first album, Ok Cowboy?  Well, that’s the problem…  Unfortunately, my favourite songs off the album are three of the tracks off the Poney EP (only You Prefer Cocaine is omitted).  Considering it was now released four years ago, it’s somewhat surprising that these tracks have been included; although given their continued popularity, I guess it shouldn’t have been.  While it’s welcome to own these tracks on CD as well as vinyl, I was expecting more from the album.

I like some of the tracks on the album that veer towards a more downbeat electro style.  Included in this group are The Past, a good piece of melancholic electrotech which is heavy on the synths, as well as the bleepy, machinesque U and I and the more emotional Trahison.  However, I don’t feel that Wooo (which has already previously been released, as a B-side of Fanfares), with its irregular, swaying beat, ever ends up going anywhere.

Meanwhile, some other tracks are just a bit weird.  Both the first track off the album, Polkamatic (a short cut of almost funfairesque sounds), and the final track, (the percussive Valletta Fanfares, with its sped up marching drums) left me somewhat confused.  The first single, My Friend Dario, is a pretty typical electro track, with deadpan vocals accompanying solid beats and guitar riffs, but it ends up coming off rather cheesy, mainly due to the car sounds at the start and end.

The album improves with No Fun.  It’s also an upbeat electro track, but instead of taking the cheesy route, it instead includes lashings of weird squelches and distorted sounds.  Repair Machines is also heavy on the bleeps and distortion.  About half way through the track it gets more complex, with a guitar and an ultra bleepy melody kicking in, which would work well on the dance floor.  This is followed up by the driving beats of Newman. 

So, while I like some of the tracks on Ok Cowboy, I don’t feel that there’s anything that approaches the same heights as the three tracks taken off the Poney EP.  Poney Part 1, Le Rock and Poney Part 2 contribute much of the substance to the album, and considering the album is only 52 minutes long, without these three tracks it wouldn’t be that long either.