Swedish electro-clash duo the
Bondage Fairies (never photographed without their masks on and sporting the handles Elvis Creep and Deus Deceptor on vocals and keyboards, respectively) come across like a mixture of
Suicide,
Daft Punk and
Ween. This is as good and as bad as that capsule description implies. The good: Deceptor has a head for punky electronic tunes that are as aggressive as they are playfully tuneful, and there is no hint of seriousness to this brief set of snarky dance-rock, delivered by Creep in his best bratty whine. Even better: the brief "Miss Volkova" is downright pretty, in the same manner as many of
Air's lighter instrumentals. And bad: lyrical concerns occasionally devolve from inspired silliness into the merely wacky, and from there it's just one small step to the dippily juvenile "Fingus Cooked My Cock." For the most part, however, the
Bondage Fairies keep to the right side of weirdness, and
What You Didn't Know When You Hired Me is a goofy, trifling, but fun time. ~ Stewart Mason