Bag Raiders

Albenrezension

Sydney duo Bag Raiders follow a handful of 12” singles, along with over a dozen remixes for the likes of Cut Copy, Sneaky Sound System, and Kid Sister, with a succinct album for the Modular label. After Jack Glass and Chris Stracey issued 2007/2008 singles on Bang Gang, they gradually refined their sound, inching away from somewhat crude electro-house and toward a softer, winsome, more melodic form of dance-pop rooted in disco and synth pop. That development continues here, led by the brisk, blissful 2009 A-side “Shooting Stars” — the only previously released track on the album — and “Gone Away,” a gorgeous, unassuming tune that interlaces several ear-pleasing ideas within three minutes. Glass and Stracey have become so skilled at making full-blown songs that the instrumentals — four of the disc’s 11 tracks — come across like extended, undercooked intermissions.