Not as frenetic as the early EPs but after the 10th it sneaks up on you and you notice the nuances in tracks you thought were duds. (see Electic Bloom, Big Big Love #2 and the ridiculously good Heavy Water).

Mathletes? Whatever you want to call them, they've combined math rock, afropop, and dance rock, setting a daring new paradigm & an impossibly high benchmark for other indie johnny come latelies to gaze up at nervously. Smashing. Will be considered "breakthrough" by summer in the US. Give us an extra 18 months to let it sink in, but we're trying at least.

Not at all overrated! Yes, Yannis's vocals are slightly yelpish and the lyrics appear to make little sense, but is this not a more organic take on the 'voice-as-instrument' vibe championed by math-rock bands such as Battles? Musically, the album is almost perfect, wavering between tight, insectoid dissonance and atonality, and Klaxons-esque challenging anthemic electro-pop. It's math-pop, if you will, and full of excitement and tension that rarely breaks. The use of stabs of brass is assiduous, so credit where its due to Dave Sitek, but, over all, congratulations to the band for striking out on their own and wanting to make an intentionally emotionally distant album. We don't criticise authors for using such a tone to convey unease, so why are so many reviewers quick to criticise this album for the same crime? In short, I can't think of a British album that will top this all y unlistenable ear: it does succeed in being different from the rest of the crowd, and not in an manner at all.… Expand