Bleep

"A hushed American voice whispers, "I can hear everything... It's everything time"... And so begins this incredible new record from Manhattan outfit Gang Gang Dance...

A coded epitaph perhaps? A sly in-joke maybe? Aimed at those detractors who have forever accused them of all-out, maximalist indulgence? Whatever, commentators have labelled this the Gang Gang pop album; the moment when they shed their Noise music roots -their everything heritage- and rush headlong into a crystal-clear pop future.

So what do Lizzi Bougatsos and crew proceed to do on lead track/lead single 'Glass Jar'? Create a perfect pop song... that is eleven and a half minutes long. Such audacity, energy and boldness would be plain embarrassing in the hands of lesser minds. Yet after five minutes of sumptuous Kosmische wanderings, 'Glass Jar' morphs into a fizzy, synth-line stomper, loaded with bright, sweaty euphoria bursting from every lick. It's the prime opening statement, a dizzy mix of everything colliding with an indefinable pop clarity.

Where 'Glass Jar' thrills and spills, the rest of Eye Contact is - slightly - more restrained (tracks sit at 4, 5, 6 minutes) but no less innovative and exciting. Variously nodding to the ballsy-bass-swagger and syncopated snare dynamics of UKF ('Mind Killa'), restlessly strange revisions of 80's high-gloss pop ('Chinese High', 'Sacer') bittersweet synthronic-funk ('Romance Layers' w/ Alexis Taylor) and short colourful interludes, drawing the parts of Eye Contact into a tender love letter comprising a thousand generic flavours.

Despite all this hyperbole, a word of caution. 'Eye Contact' may at first disillusion some; its sheer weight of ideas leaving those itchy-trigger-fingers skipping to the next blog, the next sound. But on second play, third and beyond, it reveals manifold, psychedelic qualities and, in this day, age, we need albums like this, LP's that constantly- forever- reward. Truly a band like no other..."

Words by Alex Wilson