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Oct 16, 2013 Issue #47 - September/October 2013 - MGMT By Ryan E.C. Hamm

Ever since LCD Soundsystem disbanded in 2011, there's been a void in the synth pop world. Cut Copy is a little too obsessed with '70s disco (in a good way), Daft Punk decided to take a wonderful left turn to analog sounds, and plenty of other bands copping New Order synths and bass lines have come and gone. But no one has grooved like LCD did. So into this void comes Holy Ghost! with their second album, Dynamics—and they're blessed by LCD man himself, James Murphy, who is releasing the album on his label, DFA Records.

None of this is to simply call Holy Ghost! hangers-on—they've had a string of fantastic pop singles in their own right ever since their Static on the Wire EP. This latest effort has some tracks that similarly shine—"Dumb Disco Ideas" propels along nicely, "Okay" could play over the closing credits of a John Hughes movie, and if you don't slow dance to "In the Red" at least once this year, 2013 will have been a waste.

Other songs wear their influences a little too obviously. "Dance a Little Closer" could easily be an LCD B-side, "Changing of the Guard" sounds almost exactly like Phoenix, and a few of the other songs function better as singles than as songs on an album—listening to them back-to-back-to-back is exhausting.

Overall, though, this is another solid offering from a band accustomed to putting out great records. You're going to like almost every song if you hear it on its own, and even if that means you rarely put the whole thing on in one go, that's one of the highest compliments for any dance album. (www.holyghostnyc.net)

Author rating: 7/10