Le Galaxie: Le Club | Album Review

This Irish electro band has been teetering on the precipice of crossover success for some years now, yet – despite a reputation second-to-none on the gigging front, notably at open-air festivals where environment, tunes and enhanced headspace collide – it has been slow to arrive. The possible problem might be right under their noses. Or, indeed, a particular nose: they write some smashing, if overtly influenced, electro-pop tunes (Human League and Devo being two of the more obvious ones), but the vocals of frontman Michael Pope are Marmite in extremis, the mixture of gruffness, monotonality and stentorian-like quality either beguiling or off-putting. With this and (perhaps) other commercial considerations in mind, the band's new album is sprinkled with female guest singers. These include Irish vocalists Elaine Mai (on Love System, which also boasts a radio-friendly sax solo straight out of Baker Street) and Fight Like Apes' MayKaye (on Carmen – a riotous knee-jerk of a tune), and South African/Ireland-based singer Senita Appiakorang (on Tell me Twice, and AM LA). It's debateable as to whether Le Club will take Le Galaxie to a higher place (charts or otherwise), but it's well worth sneaking into for a decent night out. legalaxie.net