Empire Of the Sun- 'Walking On A Dream'

You can gauge how succesful a band not by how many albums they sell, not the number of dates they sell out nor the adverts they soundtrack. The true landmark of a succesful act is how many people copy them the following year. The Strokes are the landmark, Amy Winehouse another. Now MGMT are a band I love and loathe in equal measures, however if Empire Of The Sun are anything to go by they had a very succesful year in 2008.

My main foible with MGMT is that for ever pop gem on 'Oracular Spectacular' there was a rambling pile of hippy nonsense. If only they just reigned that in and made a cohesive record I could have really fallen for them. EOTS seem to share the same belief as me. They, it has to be said are not ripping MGMT off at all, they do sound decidedly like them but it is the bands label who are cashing in and exploiting the fact. It could pay dividends to as Empire... have a stack of memorable hits on display here and could be onto a winner.

From the opening salvo of 'Standing On The Shore' right through to the epic 80's balladry of 'Without You' the listeners search for heartfelt choruses and romantic emoting is never in vain. Sleepy Jackson main man Luke Steel's voice wraps itself perfectly round a series of complex melodies with Pnau's Nick Littlemore adding a delightful falsetto. It works best on 'Walking On A Dream, 'We Are The People' and 'Delta Bay'. The flamboyance of the band is clear to see on 'Swordfish Hotkiss Night' and the aformentioned 'Without You' sounds like Spandau Ballet, in a good way.

This is the sound of a band who see no boundaries, who see uniform and risk as nothing other than a barrier to leap. It could see them burn spectaculalrly (The live show promises to be incredible) but you have to applaud them for trying.

7/10

Empire Of the Sun- 'Walking On A Dream'