CD: Battles - Gloss Drop

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They started as a band of hyper-accomplished musicians aiming to play fiddly electronica in a guitar-band format and thereby creating a rather witty new kind of progressive rock. Now, minus key member Tyondai Braxton but plus a few leftfield star guests, Battles are playing a neat line in chugging heavy metal calypso techno dub punk pop. No, the notion of genre in the 21st century doesn't get any easier, does it? But preposterous definitions aside, a lot of this record boogies along with a surprising amount of fun given its makers' conspicuous virtuosity and the hodge-podge of influences making it up.

Watch the video for "Ice Cream"

Its basic mode is like the new-wave rock of Devo, Gang of Four or Talking Heads amped up, layered up and given the sense of driving groove of the best underground techno. In fact, it's when it's most like techno – ie unashamed to use hypnotic repetition to amplify the appeal of that groove – that it's at its best. When the band show off how many chords they know, it gets a bit overblown. Guest vocals shift the mood of the songs: Gary Numan (yes, the Gary Numan) turns things dark and metallic, Argentine dance producer/vocalist Mathias Aguayo and Kazu Makino of NYC band Blonde Readhead both add a sweet but strange pop twist, and Yamantaka Eye of the infamous Boredoms turns “Sundome” into delirious dancehall-dub psychedelia. I'm not entirely sure yet that it hangs together as an album, but there's enough greatness, enough intriguing oddness, and enough crisply modernist energy to make it very well worth a few return visits.