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Apr 08, 2011 The Naked and Famous By Frank Valish

The Naked and Famous are an Auckland, New Zealand five-piece band that traffics in moody synth-pop that splits the difference between brooding and ethereal electronica and dancefloor pop jams. “Punching in a Dream” is led by a soaring, saccharine melody, while “The Source” echoes the opening of Nine Inch Nails’ “Hurt.” “Eyes” features a mellow male/female-voiced melody over propulsive rhythms, and “Young Blood,” which debuted at #1 on the New Zealand charts, adds a dose of rock and roll guitar to its synthesized drum beats and arena-worthy chorus. The album might benefit from a bit more focus-things get a bit schizophrenic, switching among the dark, electro cuts, the synthy pop, and the rock/electronic mishmashes-and the album drags toward the end. But all in all Passive Me, Aggressive You is a decent debut, with a lot of room for growth.
(www.thenakedandfamous.com)

Author rating: 5/10