Astralwerks
2004
Night On Fire
About This Album
On their full-length debut, Night on Fire, VHS or Beta trade in the Daft Punk-esque filter disco of their EP for dance-punk with a new wave twist. At their best, as on the album's title track and "No Cabaret!," the band sounds like Robert Smith singing over Duran Duran remixes; like the similarly retro-minded Killers, they have a knack for distilling everyone's favorite new wave/post-punk moments into pop confections. This shiny pop veneer gives VHS or Beta an edge over the increasing, and increasingly tired-sounding, ranks of artists recreating the '70s and '80s' disco-punk hybrids -- instead of trying to attach any kind of deep significance to their rolling basslines, staccato riffs, and polyrhythms, they buff the style's rough edges into smooth stylishness. The only problem with the band's transformation from a dance-inspired band to a poppier one is that their songwriting isn't always as strong as their grooves are; "You Got Me" and "The Ocean" meander, proving that it's possible to sound driving but not compelling. The dance-punk instrumentals are particularly tepid: "Nightwaves"' chrome-plated guitar squeals and four-on-the-floor beat are squandered by stretching a three-minute idea out to five-and-a-half, while the nine-minute album closer, "Irreversible," goes nowhere and seemingly refuses to end.
Track List (try tracks 1,4,6,7 and 8)

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