(Chicks On Speed Records/Inertia)

French laptop art-pop trio DAT Politics have certainly carved out a distinctively eccentric presence in the leftfield electronic music sphere, with a prolific work ethic which has seen them release six albums in as many years of existence as a band. This third album through Chicks On Speed Records follows on the heels of 2004’s well-received ‘Go Pets Go’ and sees them turning their sound more towards melodic electro pop songs than ever before, whilst also drawing upon the sorts of hyperactive energy levels generated by their live show.

Opening track ‘Viper Eyes’ offers a first taste of this new pop-driven direction, with stabbing bright electro synths and sampled child-like high-pitched voices repeatedly saying “No, I, don’t, mind” weaving in and out over the electronics before Gaetan and Claude’s distorted shouty vocals slam into the foreground, the entire track veering towards punky electro-thrash that comes across like some crazy but at the same time somehow completely logical fusion of Atari Teenage Riot and Alvin & The Chipmunks – imagine Alec Empire and Co. hopped up on red cordial rather than political ire, and you’re perhaps getting close. After this energetic opening, ‘Turn My Brain Off’ comes across like the mutant spawn of Devo and Plastic Bertrand, Claude taking the vocal spotlight for a knowingly cheesy slice of eighties-inflected pop that could have crawled straight off the soundtrack to a John Hughes movie, the distorted punky shouted vocals perfectly counterpointed by tongue-in-cheek backing harmonies that might even have some thinking of a velocity-obsessed A-ha.

‘What’s DAT’ pushes the emphasis back towards buzzing analogue synth-laden electro, crisp breakers’ handclaps and distorted synth squeals powering their way between Gaetan’s sing-song pitched-up vocals as cutesy synth bleeps play back and forth in a moment that smoothly combines deliberately naïve melodies with an intricately detailed production approach, while ‘Gravity’ shows Claude once again taking the vocal helm for a punky slice of electro-pop that beautifully illustrates the trio’s fearsomely capable grasp of the power of catchy hooks – indeed amidst all of the hyperactivity and deliberately controlled chaos of this record, it’s one quality that coherently holds this collection together. ‘My Toshiba Is Alive’ offers up a tense, nervous dash through pounding 4/4 electro-house beats and buzzing bass synths, Claude providing a surreal power-pop tribute to his humble laptop (“It has teeth, a mouth and eyes / So it should be something”) as squealing toy-like electronic bleeps flutter back and forth, while ‘Roll’ provides an intriguing hyper-percussive fusion of relentless beats and grinding electronics that winds G-funk esque synth lines around shouted imitations of the kind of “act now and get the free set of steak knives” hucksterism generated by late-night infomercials, although while it’s certainly an interesting diversion, by the end of the track you’re not really left with any clues as to whether the DATs are particularly for or against the above. ‘Fake Friend’ meanwhile opts for a downtempo pop approach, Claude unleashing his ire at the superficial fraudster of the title (” If I had a plastic gun on me / I would blow your head simply”) over delicate organ-like analogue synths and gentle beatbox rhythms in a moment that personally called up associations with the likes of Felix Kubin’s creaky electro-pop.

‘Wow Twist’ is an excellent sixth album from DAT Politics that shows them adeptly shifting their emphasis towards melodic electro power-pop, and indeed while there are many moments here that seem like they simply shouldn’t work in theory, it’s this fearsome grasp of catchy pop hooks that holds it all together beautifully (and much more effectively for example than their label heads’ recent ‘Press The Space Bar’ full-length). With a vocal approach that sits up there in the chipmunk-style frequency range for much of this album, ‘Wow Twist’ clearly isn’t going to be for everyone’s ears, but those with a taste for the hyperactive side of absurdity will find pop genius lurking amidst the artfully-controlled chaos here. Perhaps their best full-length to date.

Check out http://www.datpolitics.com and http://www.chicksonspeed-records.com.