Artificial Joy Club – Melt (1997)

Like Sister Soleil, Artificial Joy Club emerged with the rise of Garbage. But the main members of AJC were hardly new on the scene. Lead singer Sal (aka Louise Reny) and producer Leslie Howe had long been a part of the pop music world, especially in Canada. They were once known as synth-pop and then pop-rock duo One 2 One, who had several Canadian hits. They then formed a band and tried an unsuccessful hard rock transformation as Sal’s Birdland before changing their name to AJC. And perhaps most importantly, Howe produced Alanis’ first two teen pop albums, before Jagged Little Pill, while Louise served as Alanis’ muse, with Alanis taking on her vocal stylings. AJC was their attempt to ride the pop mainstream. It’s ‘alternative’ pop rock, with lots of synths thrown in. And it failed pretty badly, but is not without it’s merits. Not much has been heard from the duo since, but don’t be surprised if they reinvent themselves once again, like a phoenix rising from the flames of failure. And I’ll be first in line to buy their album!

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Download Melt

1		Psychic Man
2		Skywriting
3		Sick & Beautiful
4		Spaceman
5		No Shame
6		I Say
7		You're Too Good To Me
8		Crawl
9		Cheeky Monkey
10		Garbage Cans