NYC-based indie-electronic four-piece band and art collective Gang Gang Dance (AKA frontwoman Lizzie Bougatsos, Brian Degraw, Tim Dewit and Josh Diamond) have certainly been extremely prolific in the comparatively short period since their first inception as a group back in 2000. Indeed, since the independent release of their debut album Survival Of The Shittest back in 2004, they’ve managed to release two ensuing albums, two EPs and a multimedia art film/audio collage with 2007’s Retina Riddim – an impressive work rate, even if you don’t factor in their involvement with last year’s Whitney Biennial and The Boredom’s ‘Boadrum’ piece involving 88 drummers.

Given the above CV, you’d certainly be forgiven for expecting this fourth album Saint Dymphna, named for the patron saint of outsiders and their first for Warp, to be a suitably eclectic affair. In this case, the eleven tracks collected here so frequently cross boundaries and genres so smoothly and rapidly (much like the aforementioned Boredoms), that I’m frequently at a loss trying to encapsulate what they ‘do’, per se. Tracks such as opener Bebey and First Communion certainly carry strong traces of the punk-funk post-*DFA* sound so prevalent amongst the NYC band scene, but in this case, rather than concentrating upon linear grooves, there’s far more of a centreless feel present here, a factor aided by the deft use of tribal drum rhythms and shimmering, dub-inflected synths.

The deep, bass-heavy Blue Nile betrays the dub influence even further, with Bougatsos’ echo-drenched vocals descending into a backdrop of delicate ragga guitars and clicking electronic rhythms, but it’s Princes that offers up what’s easily this album’s biggest surprise, with UK grime MC Tinchy Strider proving to be an unlikely but ideal collaborator as he drapes his rapid fire vocals over Gang Gang’s bleepy keyboards and vast sub-bass drops, in what’s easily one of the weirdest grime tracks I’ve ever heard. Then there’s first single House Jam, which easily represents this album’s most ‘straightforward’ offer, fusing Bougatsos’ angelic multi-tracked vocal harmonies with dark, buzzing analogue synths and slightly brooding mid-tempo drums. While it’s easily the most crossover-poised track here, it doesn’t see Gang Gang Dance diluting their decidedly individual vision one iota.

Believe the considerable hype that has been swirling around of late – Saint Dymphna is well worth investigating.

Check out www.ganggangdance.com and www.warprecords.com

1. Bebey
2. First Communion
3. Blue Nile
4. Vacuum
5. Princes
6. Inners Pace
7. Afoot
8. House Jam
9. Interlude (No Known Home)
10. Desert Storms
11. Dust