Gang Gang Dance - Eye Contact (4AD, 2011)

Gang Gang Dance is a band that has always been difficult to describe. Their attempts at an ethereal dance pop aesthetic have allowed them to carve a niche for themselves in an anti-genre.

With Eye Contact, they've raised the bar in an unbelievably challenging way. What pop act opens a record with an eleven minute track? They do. What begins with free jazz-like, seemingly improvisational percussion evolves into a blissed out post-punk dance party. "Glass Jar" is heavy on the synth and body rock, gesticulating hard but culminating into a very spiritual premonition that is Track 2. This sends us into the misleadingly titled "Adult Goth", a track that is more akin to an electro-Bollywood tinged afro pop cut by the ghost of Kate Bush than anything else.

"Chinese High" is another "club hit that never was" with global dancefloor intentions, a crunk synth dub number that still retains the 80's new romantic aesthetic. "Mindkillah" might be my favorite cut, a pounding hybrid of reggaeton and acid house mixed with some whiter than usual hollatronics, this is the most banging dance song I've heard in a while.

Another interlude is followed by "Romance Layers", a chill souled out bass-heavy funk track that sounds like it could be some dub b-side of a new jack R&B jam that you kind of remember but can't quite put your finger on because you were to busy rollerskating.

"Sacer" sound like an inadvertent tribute to Bjork in her Sugarcubes days. I find this incredibly romantic. These days there's a revivalist element to everything we hear but I'm pretty sure they're the first to remind us what a great and still underrated band The Sugarcubes were.

Blending with yet another interlude titled with unknown characters (witch house style), the closing track "Thru and Thru" treats us to the letting go of singer Lizzi Bougatsos and her near East Asian vocal homage, another acid-drenched number, this time with a no holds barred narrative of epic proportions.

Its only May but this might already be my album of the year. This is an effort that seems to be an insult to 80's nostalgiacs. Gang Gang Dance is far too creative to be lumped into that category that is all the rage at the moment. Some cerebral shake your ass shit. Dance but think about it at the same time. "Live forever".

Get Eye Contact Here

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