{grate 3.5} Borrowing the best elements of ’80s new-wave synth and
breeding them with pulsing guitar riffs and ethereal, crooning vocals,
Australian electronica trio Cut Copy’s sophomore album, In Ghost Colours, finds
a comfortable home for itself in that narrowly defined intertidal zone between
the electro-rock and club genres, save a few stubborn barnacles that keep you
from fully wetting your feet.
Riding the wave of success from the band’s 2004 release
Bright Like Neon Love, which saw lots of airtime Down Under, racked up a loyal
stateside clubgoer fan base and spawned enough pulsating remixes to keep even
the most reluctant hipsters shaking their asses, In Ghost Colours moves away
from the safe confines of the band’s previous synth-heavy midtempo beatlines.
Instead, the threesome alternate between
clubbed-out dance anthems perfect for head-pounding ravers and experimental
forays into the softer New Order-esque world of electro-rock.
Opener “Feel the Love,” with annoyingly saccharine oohing
and ahhing flanked by repetitive and distorted digitized vocals that seem more
appropriate for the latest boy band, is definitely the first of a few
noticeable weak points on the album, but don’t let it deter you from sampling
the rest the trio have to offer.
Rather, Cut Copy is most successful when they focus their
energy on either end of the spectrum, via the synth-heavy beatlines of club
tracks like “Hearts on Fire” or the propulsive riffage of slower cuts like
“Midnight Runner.” The album’s best song is definitely “Far Away,” an
amalgamation of amped-up dance beats with a catchy chorus, while the most
disappointing track is “So Haunted,” which starts out as a foot-tapper but
quickly dissolves once the lyrics (“Satellites, satellites, satellites /
Orbiting you and me!”) enter the picture.
Although the ooh/ahh factor is distractingly present in many
of the tracks on In Ghost Colours, Cut Copy deserve credit for venturing out of
their club-beat shell while also giving a few well-executed nods to their
trademark thumping electro past.
