Cherrytree Records
2009
La Roux
About This Album
It took just over six months for La Roux to go from issuing their first single on Kitsune to topping the U.K. charts. That's a swift rise -- one that was years in the making, of course -- but after hearing their self-titled debut, it's easy to understand their sudden fame: La Roux's take on '80s synth pop is as unique as it is familiar. La Roux's inspirations, which include Blancmange and the Eurythmics, might be decades old and well-known, but their spare coldness can still sound weird, and La Roux shows just how committed they are to that chilly oddness and catchiness. They use only the brittlest drums and tinniest synths on these songs -- if anything, it feels like La Roux's gear is more limited than the original group's were. They even have the proper synth pop lineup: La Roux is a duo (though singer Elly Jackson gets most of the limelight). However, their devotion transcends kitsch, even if Jackson's asymmetrical copper wedge of a hairdo suggests otherwise. It also sounds remarkably relevant. Robyn and the Knife are kindred spirits, and in a sea of hyper-feminized pop singers, Jackson's androgyny is as arresting as Annie Lennox's was a quarter-century earlier.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,5,6,10 and 12)

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