CD Reviews

MSTRKRFT

The Looks | Last Gang

By MATTHEW GASTEIER | July 18, 2006

Most dance punk is just a shower and a missing guitar away from straight dance music, so it’s not such a surprise that aggro-electronicist Jesse F. Keeler of Death from Above 1979 and his group’s producer, Al-P, would go house. To judge by their remixes of everything from of-the-moment neo new wave like Bloc Party to dance-pop sensation Annie, their debut disc would seem destined for the ironic-hipster section of the dance floor. But no — turns out that these two love letting squiggly synths run wild around programmed drums and the occasional hyped-up vocoder. Opener/highlight “Work on You” sums it all up with its robot protagonist’s simple refrain: “I’m gonna work on you/Until you’re feeling right/I’m gonna make you right/Under the disco lights.” It’s the kind of promise Daft Punk would have taken to (metallic) heart if they hadn’t turned out to be, uh, human after all, and don’t we all need to listen to our inner robot every once in a while?

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Topics: CD Reviews , Entertainment, Daft Punk, Dance, More

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