Zounds

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The third release from Dappled Cities finds the Australian quartet continuing to develop its strangely retro-futuristic sound, one that blends cheesy sonics (all tracks on Zounds feature the Gakken, a $40 cardboard synthesizer from Japan) with self-consciously uneven vocals and moments of sheer, glistening pop transcendence. If that sounds like a mixed bag, it is: singer Tim Derricourt warbles with an annoyingly precious fragility on Hold Your Back, the album's opener, but then pulls himself together very nicely for The Price, on which he delivers the anthemic hook in a startlingly strong falsetto; that song ends up sounding, happily, something like a Pet Shop Boys song as performed by the Housemartins. Slow for Me, My Island is weird but lovely, whereas The Night Is Young at Heart is just weird, both songs built on attractively pulsing chords but only one turning them into something worth listening to more than once. Miniature Alias rewrites Elvis Costello's Mouth Almighty while Don't Stop There invokes vintage David Bowie, and Stepshadows, the album's final track, nicely juxtaposes a chugging train-engine beat with near-choral vocal harmonies and glisteningly atmospheric guitars. The bag is definitely mixed, but the balance ends up positive. ~ Rick Anderson, Rovi