Le Galaxie - Laserdisc Nights 2

(Battlepulse Records album)




Le Galaxie cite Alien 3 as an influence, release video promos like the one above, subscribe to 'musical maximalism', and have probably the most hilarious twitter feed of any band going. Needless to say, you want to love a band like that even before you hear any of their songs. But no self-deception is necessary, for Laserdisc Nights 2 is a staggering debut album, packed with pulsating, sci-fi referencing dancefloor-slayers.



The opening flurry of tracks are unstoppable. 'Earth''s exquisite build-up leads into an infectious, swinging synth hook, overlaid with ominous-sounding vocoderised sing-speak. It's impossible not to move your feet and get swept up by this - it's even powerful enough to instigate a truce between Predators and the human race.

'Earth' segues perfectly into 'Beyond Transworld', which retains the tempo with an effervescent day-glo-electro groove; and that's followed by 'Midnight Midnight', one of the tunes of the years so far - the first time you hear it something doesn't sound quite right about it, but after repeat listens you realise that's because it's so deliriously unique and off-the-wall: it sounds like something that might have come off the DFA conveyor belt if they weren't so self-consciously hip, with robot-like vocals, thumping dreambeat and a vibrant kaleidoscopic arrangement giving way to an effervescent, whooping chorus.

There's plenty of variation on show too: 'Blood Beach' slows the tempo with a gently pulsing, atmospheric arrangement worthy of the likes of Vangelis or John Carpenter; 'Orion' has an initially airier, weightless vibe (with Paul from Channel One providing vocals) that gives way to frenzied guitars; while 'The Police Department' adds frenetic techno elements to the mix.

The infectious electro-pop bounce of 'Solarbabies' and the sublime, grandiose swell of long-time favourite 'Victory' seal this record's status as possibly the most downright fun and enjoyable album that's been released since The Go! Team's debut. Throughout Laserdisc Nights the band's sense of humour and love of sci-fi shines through; no fooling around though, these eleven tracks are endlessly replayable. You know that scene in Aliens where Ripley takes on the Queen with a power-loader? Imagine that with 'Let's Fighting Love' playing in the background. Laserdisc Nights 2 is that x 100. Going to do a Pitchfork on this:

9.5/10

Stream the album from Bandcamp:




On a final note, Le Galaxie reach an even higher plane of awesomeness when they play live. Make sure to catch them - they play Glasgowbury (July 23), Galway's Strange Brew Summer Shindig (July 28) and Castlepalooza (July 29).