★★★★☆
Athletic electro funk pogo-ers Andy Harber and Richard Roberts pull up a neon-coloured legwarmer with utterly groovy avant guardianship high-fiving the right side of plastic. Wondrously-tipped and making deceptive its united variations in tempo, it’s as if Letherette have made their way out the other side of a chillwave fog and sound thrilled at new discoveries seen in sharp focus.
Putting boogie in the beats scene and swapping its dark glasses for oversized star-shaped specs, the cool vibrates from kitsch touches and Gallic nods connecting the boldly retro and forward-thinking. Doing Justice on “D&T” with its shaggy guitar solo, nu-disco jitterbug “Restless” with Letherette hyping their stock drowsy stabs, and glamorous disco-glitch “Cold Clam” treading water to get to the object of its affection, turn the dance floor into one big post-gym, locker room frolic. Just as good a head-nodder, “I Always Wanted You Back” is a soaring hip-hop hug paving streets with gold; given the overriding energy, there’s no harm in taking a reflective breather and wringing out the sweatband now and again.
When the album gets its head down, “Gas Stations and Restaurants” is a big drop-off in vibrancy; a muggy soul comedown that typically slickens and perks up. The detours are maturely landscaped, still keeping the pervading glisten aglow, even if “Hard Martha” and “Say the Sun” sound comparatively down and out of breath on one of the year’s freshest sounding albums.
File under: Justice, Burns, Daft Punk