On the Sleeve (Reissue)

With a flair for '80s-inspired dark-wave, this Austin indie quartet follows up their debut dance/rock LP with the focused, driving, hook-filled On the Sleeve. Few new millennium acts seem to have gotten the balance of familiar '80s-club emotional throb and original contemporary energy just right, but this Austin-by-way-of-Orlando quartet is one of 'em. Songs from On the Sleeve sacrifice neither groove nor heft to their quest for resonant quality songcraft. There's an earnestness to their tunes that defies the over-it, overly detached posturing of so much danceable rock, which pairs the cool with an engaging humanity. Also, of course, they kill it.