Ryan HillI must admit, Null Device caught me a little off guard with this review. Unfamiliar with their previous work, the name Null Device sounds to me like some sort of crunchy, guitar-fused industrial project, or perhaps a thrashing, club-stomping German electro band. Much to my surprise, Null Device sounds like they stepped off a time amchine from 1988, late in the heyday of synthpop yet still near the peak of the likes of Depeche Mode and Erasure. Given that there are so many synthpop (or futurepop…whatever)bands out there desperately trying to recreat the 80's sound, I was impressed with Null Device's usage of tradional ethnic musical forms laced throughout A Million Different Moments. Many of the tracks have a distinct asian or middle eastern flavor, just enough to give the album a kick and yet not enough to go over the top and make it feel forced and pompous. Equally impressive is the band'slyrical talents and vocal rhythms. Each song flows well within its own individual framework. Considering many futurepop songs angle for heart-felt and come off as melodramatic high school powetry, it's pelasant to see someone who has a notion of how to use a pen. Ultimately, Null Device is a good thing for the future pop genre, the Crystal Light of musical movements. If more bands out there learned from them, then futurepop might actually one day be listenable. Keep hope alive.
