Melody suffers from Martin’s inability to write more than two or three actual songs per album, but the three here are enjoyable enough that hearing four or five variations on each isn’t at all bad. Synthesizers burp, growl, warble and purr as he trills along like the world’s most blissful castrati, crooning about lily pads, forests, candy cane carriages and various and sundry other forms of toys and goodies. Martin’s answer was Joy Electric’s debut, Melody. Although the album received almost no distribution, it caught the ear of the newborn Tooth & Nail label, which offered Martin a contract, reportedly requesting “something like Rainbow Rider, but not as obnoxious.” All of the disco elements are gone, the tempos are slower and Martin coaxes increasingly quirky noises out of his synths. Martin’s next album, Beautiful Dazzling Music, is a transitional project that could just as easily be the third Dance House Children album as the first Rainbow Rider release. Jason departed shortly thereafter to go shoegazing in Starflyer 59, while Ronnie continued to refine his synth-pop. Ronnie and Jason’s styles co-exist well enough, but it’s obvious they’re moving in completely different directions. The noisy, ominous swirl of distortion, found sounds and buried vocals of those songs are highlights here, although they’re not typical of the album. Jason, who had only one solo songwriting credit on the debut, delivers three tracks reflecting his interest in such then-current English bands as Ride, Lush and My Bloody Valentine. The straightforward Pet Shop Boys disco sound recedes as idiosyncratic synthesizer bleeps and blips move into the mix. Ronnie mixes up the tempos and shows developing signs of a more distinctive instrumental style. Jesus, the second Dance House Children album, shows noticeable artistic growth. That said, the overall pep and good nature of Songs and Stories keeps it from becoming tedious. Almost any song on each of his albums sounds pretty much like all the others. While nearly all of his ideas are charming and delightful, he doesn’t have a whole lot of them. The galloping synths owe a debt to the Pet Shop Boys, Sparks and Janet Jackson’s “When I Think of You.” An uncomfortable majority of the songs are in the same tempo - stylistic sameness is the major flaw in Martin’s work, and it has dogged him his entire career. Otherwise, the music bears only a cursory resemblance to his later work with Joy Electric (and even less to the future work by Ronnie’s partner in DHC, his younger brother Jason). Several of Martin’s trademark elements are already in place on the Dance House Children’s 1991 debut, Songs and Stories: wispy, falsetto vocals a lyrical fondness for fairy tale imagery and sing-songy borderline-precious melodies. Perfecting that sound with Joy Electric, he became one of the few musicians - alongside Martin Rev, Magazine’s Dave Formula and Kraftwerk - to create a personal, instantly identifiable signature sound with synthesizers. Yet the Orange County auteur stuck to his guns, seeming to ignore everything going on in the world around him as he worked to craft a highly personal and idiosyncratic brand of electronic pop.
At the time of his debut with the Dance House Children, nothing could have been more out of fashion than an unabashedly ’80s style synth-pop band on an obscure Christian label. Ronnie Martin has always marched to the beat of a different drum machine. Brush Away the Cobwebs EP (Velvet Blue Music) 2009.Favorites at Play (Tooth and Nail) 2009.My Grandfather the Cubist (Tooth & Nail) 2008.Workmanship EP (Velvet Blue Music) 2007.The Ministry of Archers (Tooth & Nail) 2005.Montgolfier and the Romantic Balloons EP (eepmusic) 2005.Friend of Mannequin EP (Plastiqmusiq) 2004.The Tick Tock Treasury (Tooth & Nail) 2003.The Tick Tock Companion EP (Plastiqmusiq) 2003.The Magic of Christmas (Tooth & Nail) 2003.The Art and Craft of Popular Music (Tooth & Nail) 2002.We Are the Music Makers (Tooth & Nail) 1996.Five Stars for Failure EP (Tooth & Nail) 1995.
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