True Loves

iTunes Review

San Francisco may be leading the charge of new millennium garage bands, but that hasn’t stopped Noel Heroux from stepping out of the fumes and into the sunlight with his massive, synthesized pop anthems that hook like a narcotic. Heroux isn’t shy or stingy with the layers (and layers) of booming percussion and radiant synths, and he continues to have the good sense to avoid reverb overload on his sunny vocals. The synth arpeggios opening the crazily catchy “Sails” can only be a loving nod to bands like Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark; and as with OMD’s biggest hits, the tune morphs in and out of crackling, cool percussion and huge, neon-colored striations of dance floor rhythms that seem both airy and earthshaking. There are hints of bands past and present (DOM and MGMT come to mind in the "current" camp). It’s a nimble record that deftly mixes synths, horns (yes, really, a sax!), harpsichord, electronic noise, and the biggest of booty-shaking beats; it juxtaposes ebullient, hands-in-the air optimism with darker experimental flourishes. Neat, neat trick.