(Bpitch Control)

www.bpitchcontrol.de

Editor's Note: News arrived on Tuesday, Jan. 27, that Telefon Tel Aviv's Charles Cooper was found dead after being missing from his Chicago home for a week.

The current strain of '80s revivalism that has infected a number of musicians over the last few years has often been shoehorned uncomfortably alongside other genres and influences (most often punk or indie rock). Few are the bands that go full bore into an '80s sound, apropos of nothing but their own nostalgic appreciation. One of these rare groups is Telefon Tel Aviv, a duo that mines the surprisingly deep reserves of technopop groups like Heaven 17, Visage and OMD to construct their own punchy electronically enhanced sound.

Being the new millennium, the band has a slew of computer programs and modern synthesizers at their disposal, giving a warmth to this sound that was missing from even the best work from TTA's chosen era of influence. The thrumming hook and shaky beat of "Stay Away From Being Maybe" would have felt menacing in the hands of Soft Cell, but here it comes off as arch and giddy.

Much the same can be said about the rest of this fine album, in spite of its title's tragic directive. It would seem the band doesn't want its listeners to fall too deeply in despair, leavening a song like "You are the Worst Thing in the World" with a chirping beat and warping keyboard stabs. This mannerism of injecting all their songs with an unflagging optimism and lightness is perhaps the only place where Telefon Tel Aviv strays from the course laid out by their forebears. They really are a better band for it.

Standout Tracks: "You are the Worst Thing in the World," "Helen of Troy" ROBERT HAM