Zonoscope

It's been a busy couple years for Australian New Order devotees Cut Copy. Their sophomore effort, 2008's In Ghost Colours, earned a great deal of critical praise and even attracted the attention of one Lady Gaga, who implored the band to serve has her opening act for an entire year. (They refused.) Zonoscope is every bit the dance floor behemoth its predecessor was, but focuses further on the quartet's strongest points: frothy, effervescent synth lines, chiming background guitar, and occasional rave-style sampling. That's not to say they haven't developed, however. Where In Ghost Colours was marked by pop-oriented, four-minute singles nestled between interludes, Zonoscope's best tracks pack a heavier punch. Case-in-point: the luminous opener "Need You Now" and the pop song turned 15-minute jam session "Sun God." The record is not as carefree or as starry-eyed as its predecessor, and there's nothing here as lyrically lucid as "Hearts on Fire." But the band are careful not to let innovation completely suffocate their pop sensibility. On tracks like "Take Me Over," the band plays off their psychedelic tendencies more than ever before, channeling a late '60s Beatles vibe. Isolating the album's most electronic-heavy in the corners causes some continuity issues, but scarcely enough to subtract from Zonoscope's tremendous appeal.