Cut
I think this a good album. Most of the lyrics are good. The sound of the music is very good.

Great Find
Well, I like New Order but that does not mean that these guys are copy cats, no perhaps one might say influenced and I really love the music. After listening to this, I bought their earlier work as well.

Great Album!
This is a band I never heard before but it is a great band to listen to.

Prepare to be assimilated!
Track 1 `Feel the Love' starts off mid beat, a feature which foreshadows this indie-pop trios avante-guard style. This kick start allows them to develop the wispy and synthetic sound effects so that by 60 seconds into "In Ghost Colours" you're already in the middle of a pop song. If you like the faraway, deep but nasally sounding vocals of Peter Bjorn & John, then you'll enjoy the style of Dan Whitford on this album.

If I had been a consumer of more 80's music, I could probably drop a lot of references, but alas, I thought most of it was crap when I was listening to grunge and industrial rock. However if you are a fan of that era, this album is definitely for you, and by the end of the second track, you'll forget this is a new album. Because where `Feel the Love' starts off feeling 80's wannabe, by `Lights and Music' it's 100% 80's - samples, electro bass-funk, winding keyboards, and all! Robotic vocals atop synth keys really do create that 80's environment. If I didn't know better, I'd swear they somehow slipped in the soundtrack to the arcade version of Ninja Gaiden. Somehow they pull it off with a modern feel though, because it's catchy, not annoying and cliché. At times sounding a bit like PB&J, and others like Robert Smith meets Julian Casablancas, they span the genre fairly well with this accessible release.

They seem to use the short tracks `We Fight For Diamonds' and `Voice in Quartz' as ambient interludes. Transitioning styles between the indie-pop feel and the 80's flashback.

Many folks reference Daft Punk when talking about this band, but that's a mistake. The heavy handed hardcore electronic beats Daft Punk is known for are substituted here with pop-riffs and soft-tronica. Again, an underground 80's reference would be handy here, please refer to paragraph 2.

Standout tracks are `Lights and Music' for it's authentic 80's happy groove and 'Strangers In The Wind' for it's uniqueness, busting out the Moody Blues' slide guitar. If you want to cut to the chase and see what you're in for with this album, listen to the first 20 seconds of `Far Away' it's a microcosm of the aftertaste given to us by Cut Copy.

I'm rating this 3.5 stars, but giving it the benefit of the doubt!

-thanks for reading!-

*****
Channel surfing one night, I came across the video for "Lights and Music". I instantly fell in love. I am a huge fan of 80's music. I think if you were to modernize the "80's new wave" sound it would sound like this album. I purchased the album without hearing other cuts on their. When i heard it, i was floored. I love it. there is something familiar about their sound. After racking my brain, I figured it out... Imagine...if you were to throw Dream Academy, New Order and Bryan Ferry into a blender, this is what you would come up with. Seriously. This guys voice reminds me of the vocalist from Dream Academy.

The only thing I hate is the cd booklet. There is no information in there. Just some strange photos.

Buy IT!!!