Dublin’s glow stick waving and glitter-ball French monikered, Le Galaxie, conjure up images of the four-piece traversing the 80s musical landscape in their Miami Vice pastel-shade jackets, one arm hanging freely from the window of a Ferrari F40, as the stereo pumps out a mix of power ballads and dry-ice electro. They don’t just use that prime decade for inspiration, they live it on their latest EP, the 5-track Fade 2 Forever.
Following on from last years well-recived debut LP, Laserdisc Nights 2, this neon-lit group of tracks brings heart-string tugging tearjerker laments to the dancefloor. Love System, which features the rasping vocals of newcomer Elaine Mai, opens proceedings with the, now, signature clean-cut throbbing bass and electro drum-pad crescendo sound that Le Galaxie revel in: Electro boogaloo meets Midnight Juggernauts in a boob-tube thronged discotheque. Heart 2 Heart is a fatuous and silly, but fun nonetheless, take on the sort of electronic paeans favoured by John Foxx and Depeche Mode; artificial handclaps and whipped synth lay down a strange Bronski Beat foundation for the serious toned and faux European vocal delivers lines from some badly written Sci-Fi novel: “Heart to heart, you’re undercover/You’re crying megabits, the datas in your eyes.”
Arpeggiators run fluidly on 80s nerd tech raving, The Nightcaller – the second track to feature guest vocals, this time from Laura Smyth – whilst the epic set-piece, Heat City, sounds like Vangelis and Moroder combining forces to score the them tune for a cybernetic game on the Sega Master System. The vapoured, Gotta Go, is a more scenic glazed soppy track, punctuated by Phil Collins-esque pained drum exclamations.
Far too light-hearted and daft for my tastes – reminding me of Neon Neon‘s Stainless Style but without the storyline and concept – the 80s throwbacks, nevertheless deliver an infectious enough and bombastic translucent EP that will dazzle with its unapologetic electro-pomp.
13/07/2012
[Rating:3]
