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Jul 08, 2011 Web Exclusive By Kyle Lemmon

New Jersey designer/musician Seth Haley creates “mid-fi, synth-wave, slow-motion funk” with a resolve that immediately perks up ears. His promising debut, Galactic Melt, is a true head-trip. The ‘80s grooves may seem faintly homogenous, but when music is this melodically complex you tend to view that denigration as cohesiveness. Neon Indian, Twin Shadow, and Daft Punk travel in parallel universes to Com Truise, and Haley remixed all three artists last year. Whereas those artists stick to poppy landscapes, Com Truise eschews most lyrical underpinnings and aims his starship straight for the hearts of discriminating outré-electro listeners.

Haley’s madcap vision for the release follows the journey of Com Truise (excuse the silly mutation of famous actor Tom Cruise’s name). The Space Oddity-esque protagonist is the world’s first synthetic-robotic astronaut and he discovers the new world, “Wave 1,” and dies…. The interstellar back-story is always secondary to the pleasing, psychedelic cuts. The Air-like “VHS Sex” and debut single “Cathode Girls” are definite highlights. Also, the creepy, Boards of Canada sound textures on “Terminal,” “Futureworld,” and “Fightwave” are just plain cool for sci-fi geeks. Galactic Melt is a joyfully faded and screwed take on electro experientialism. Get sucked into its wormhole. (www.comtruise.com)

Author rating: 7/10