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Spotlight

United State of Electronica

Sounds Like: A gerbil (or some other high energy rodent) trapped inside the arcade game “Dance Dance Revolution” (or some other Japanese dance-off). It follows then that the first single of the United State of Electronica’s new self-titled full-length, “It Is ON!, is a hit in the land of the rising sun. U.S.E.’s unabashed love for cheesy synth loops is commendable for its earnestness if nothing else. Each song on U.S.E. is unbearably catchy but the edgy female vocals of back-up singers / official dancers Amanda Okonek and Carly Jean Nicklaus add a nice kick to U.S.E.’s otherwise saccharine arrangements.

Fun Facts: The United State of Electronica began as a joke on the muddy banks of Seattle. One fateful night in 2002, a handful of the current members got on stage at a local nightspot, pretending to be a made-up house band from the home of odd electronic music–Germany. U.S.E. went from Sprockets to serious when they realized their music made the crowd rock out. U.S.E. says it best on the track “All Sounds & All People,” “This goes out to the people who wanna shake it and raise their fists.”