While James Murphy and his cohorts in LCD Soundsystem are busy touring the globe while positioning themselves as voices of a generation that may have partied a little too hard for a little too long, their DFA labelmates Holy Ghost! are engineering a notable return to form with Crime Cutz, their first EP of new material since their 2013 sophomore record, Dynamics. Up until now, Holy Ghost!'s arguable greatest achievement was their debut single, "Hold On," a track brilliant enough to carry the band from its release in 2007 to their debut album four years later. The four sprawling, joyous dance tracks on Crime Cutz finally follow up "Hold On" with something equally substantial. It's a bright, tight, tense mini-epic, solidifying the band as one of the pillars of the mid-'00s disco resurgence.
The EP's titular opener begins with a drudged-out minute of spacey synths before bursting into full-fledged disco: arpeggiated synthesizers, falsettos, super-dry guitar riffs, an angelic choir of diva vocals, and a hands-to-the-heavens chorus of "You lift me up and up! Up and off the floor!" Many of these elements could be regarded as pure retro revivalism, but Holy Ghost!'s touch is light enough to make the song transcend its obvious crib notes.
Crime Cutz doesn't draw only from disco, however. There's a distinct '80s-pop aura permeating the record, courtesy of over-the-top pop arrangements and frontman Alex Frankel's earnest blue-eyed R&B vocal style. "Stereotype" recalls old-school dancefloor staples from the likes of Colonel Abrams, Rockwell, and even Jermaine Stewart, gems from the post-Thriller R&B boom that produced countless hits. Frankel sings with the uninhibited glee of someone karaoke-ing "P.Y.T." at a high school house party circa 1984. "I know I'm a stereotype," he croons, "don't be so critical […] Let go." You'd expect nothing but seriousness from a band that is this on top of their history, but they understand that half of what makes this type of music fun is its abandon.
Another highlight, "Compass Point," adds another instrumental layer with a welcome and unexpected surge of horns near the end. If anything, Crime Cutz's weakness lies in its lack of diversity—you spend a lot of the record hoping for something to take them even further over the edge, but they continue to pull back until the very end. "Footsteps," the record's closer, is the only track that slightly misses the mark, leaning a little too heavily on all the touchstones mentioned above. It barely touches the overall effect of Crime Cutz, though, and if this EP is indeed a precursor to a new full length,we have reason to be excited.
