Attention
With a stripped-down list of members and a lean, tech-pop sound, Gus Gus'sAttentiongets more from less, building a lively, kinetic sound that draws heavily from old-school acid house and new-school electro. Instead of taking the usual crowd of filmmakers, artists, and even some musicians into the studio, only a trio of regular members contributed toAttention, along with vocalist Earth, whose pipes give the record's spare rhythms an edge of diva-funk. It can make for a pretty sexy sound, as tracks like "David" (featuring the provocative refrain "I still have last night in my body") attain a hands-in-the-air momentum. But overall, the diversity of the music is what keeps the record afloat, as Gus Gus piece together an aggressively modern sound from a cleverly chosen selection of early techno influences. Throughout the record, the synths are as bright as anything you'd find at an early '90s hyper-rave, but they're often integrated into synth-pop structures; "Unnecessary" sounds like somethingSoft Cellmight be recording right now in a perfect world. While the record's jumbled approach starts to wear itself out toward the end, Gus Gus have the requisite big ears and open minds to keep it interesting.--Matthew Cooke