Fantasy Black Channel

iTunes Review

Reveling in glorious excess, Late of the Pier turn their debut album Fantasy Black Channel into a dizzying celebration of ‘80s-era rock motifs and postures. The British quartet draws upon the fizzy effusions of Gary Numan, the Fixx, and similar synth-pop artists for inspiration, then adds florid guitar heroics and amped-up New Romantic angst for seasoning. The resulting stew is rich, dense, and surprisingly appealing, packed with unpredictable time-shifts, killer pop hooks and a surreal-to-snotty lyric sensibility. Tracks like “Focker,” “Heartbeat” and “Random Firl” are frothy, nerve-shredding outbursts, at once giddy and compelling. Singer Sam Eastgate tosses off nuggets of oblique alienation during “Space and the Woods” and throbs with surrealist lust on “White Snake.” The gothic jungle groove of “The Bears Are Coming” and the convoluted space-opera pop of “Bathroom Gurgle” are among the album’s peak moments. There are times when the band seems ready to explode into a shower of fused computer chips and singed spadex but somehow the whole thing holds together — it’s the listener who faces mental meltdown. Fantasy Black Channel makes sensory overload a risk worth taking.