CD Reviews

Yacht | See Mystery Lights

DFA (2009)

By MICHAEL BRODEUR | July 29, 2009

3.5 Stars

One reason DFA is the label of records people want at their party is because the folks there have a sense of humor — be it James Murphy's prolonged deadpan hipster-papa martyrdom, the Juan Maclean's unconcealed boner for shitty piano pre-sets, or the smile-while-you-dance extravagance of Hercules and Love Affair. So though it wasn't a complete surprise to crack a few dumb grins listening to See Mystery Lights — the newest from the now-duo'd electro generalists YACHT — it was unexpected to bust out giggling at its ample Wang Chung–isms.

After what I had considered a steady output of comparatively austere glitch-mad IDM, YACHT have dropped their tight jeans to reveal a pair of polka-dot bloomers. (And this "YACHT of 2009 is the true form of YACHT," sayeth their MySpace.) "In our world we are millionaires," sings Claire L. Evans on "I'm in Love with a Ripper," a simmering minimalist fuck-you to the glam life, studded with woo!'s and crappy orchestra hits and some of the slickest R(obot)&B ever.

Without a smidgen of a doubt, See Mystery Lights has egghead-party-album-of-the-year potential. But its value is greater than that. The chuckles at work behind the boards of "It's Boring/You Can Live Anywhere" and "Summer Song" aren't nervous laughter — they're the easy laughs that come with skilled, willed abandon.

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