Latest CD releases reviewed

CUT COPY Bright Like Neon Lights Modular ***

"Doing a Mylo" is what the music industry now call a dance-orientated artist coming up trumps with an album which actually breaks out of that ghetto. Few artists have quite managed the transition. Australians Cut Copy may well come closest in the coming year, their edgy electro-groove and synthy punk leanings suggesting a band very much of their time, if a little too cool for (old or new) school in places. Produced by French house mainstay Philippe Zdar (Cassius, etc), Bright Like Neon Love does indeed shine, albeit with a second-hand glimmer, and you'll spot New Order (the vocal on Bright Neon Payphone is a ringer for Bernard Sumner), Daft Punk and even Human League among the grooves. Yet, for all the glaring obviousness of their influences, tracks such as Saturday and the fragile, lovelorn Future do at least crease the template. www.cutcopy.net

Jim Carroll