Review of Let Them Eat Cake taken from the
Dutch magazine
OOR, January 2000.
English translation by Erik and Sophie.

MOTORPSYCHO
Let Them Eat Cake
(release:31.01.2000)
The Other Fool EP

The completely different sound of MP on this eighth studio-record is hardly surprising - didn't the Norwegians surprise us with every new release before? And yet, I think that with this new album from Europe's most important guitar-band people are going to be even more surprised than usually. Because the band's motto "space is the place" is (temporarily) ignored on "Let Them Eat Cake", and so are the experiments in guitar-playing, the vocals cutting right through your soul, and the psychedelic pieces with a minimal length of eight minutes.
And just like true pioneers, Bent, Snah and Gebhardt are still searching for unexplored areas within themselves. This time, they declare their love to pure, mostly quiet, pop-music. Bass, guitar and drums fade into the background to make room for Beach Boys-harmonies, Allman Brothers-guitars, glorious strings, a warm-sounding Hammond-organ, melancholic horns and a jazzy piano.
But just in case the die hard-psychonaut is about to stop reading because he is feeling disappointed: "Let them eat cake" will ask a lot of listening before you can value it's beauty (just like with the caleidoscopic "Trust Us"-album). Not until then these nine carefully arranged songs will release their secrets, and will you be able to hear a heart-warming quest for The Perfect Song, where every carefully placed detail has, and will find, it's own place. From the majestic opening song The Other Fool (which can also be found in a shorter edit on the, remarkably familiar-sounding and thus greasy, EP of the same title), to the closing super-trio: Stained Glass, My Best Friend and 30/30, I can guarantee you'll have tears in your eyes, a dry throat and chivers down your spine.
And so, even though "Let them eat cake" is still not a record to play as background music, the final conclusion is simple: where most bands only try to amuse or touch your heartstring just vaguely, Motorpsycho once again makes a real difference in your entire existence. This is the sort of band that you cherish as a friend for life.

Helmut Boeijen

Translation notes:
Because the writer of the article has tried very hard to be as creative as possible with the Dutch language, it was almost impossible to translate this review literally. That's why the translation is more of an interpretation.