4 out of 5

Produced by: Keith Souza

Label: Three One G

This is so funkily accessible that you can’t help but have a private chuckle when singer Eric Paul’s sexual predilections tip-toe into the lyrics – a sort of Freudian master and submissive set of relationships – and imagine new wave fans sweaty dancing and nodding along to such weirdness.  For most intents and purposes, Chinese Stars’ third album rides that trend hard, the synths atop the buzzing guitars, bouncing bass and chipper drums indiscernible from, say, Dennis Herring’s work on Modest Mouse’s Good News For People Who Love Bad News, or any of the various Killers-esque bands in that vein.

Is this no-wave pioneers Skin Graft and noise supporters 31G selling out?

Hardly.  Paul’s nasally sing-song and the sudden menace of tracks like closer The Drowning remind us from whence these dudes came – Arab On Radar and Six Finger Satellite – and that the whole thing feels glossed up with lovely layers and produced to a T draws into sharper comparison how those quirky guitar lines don’t quite fit and the drums are nervy, not groovy.

I mean, it’s completely danceable, and you could drop, say, Bored With This Planet into a new wave mix and no one would bat an eye.  The songs are in and out, making their rhythmic mark and then departing without much concern – it’s pretty ephemeral, something that’s somewhat held Chinese Stars from greater heights – but there’s that lovely creeping sensation of offness that might make you wonder who these cats are.

Those that know, of course, bob their heads and smile crookedly, enjoying the day they can subject a larger crowd to some of the best noise makers of our time.