Album: Goose

Bring It On, SKINT

Belgium has long been a centre of techno music, thanks to the R&S label's early patronage of such as Joey Beltram and, most notably, Aphex Twin's "Didgeridoo" debut; but it's been a while since the country spawned a techno band of any note. Goose may change that; as a quartet who can bring their blend of rock guitars and techno synths to the stage without recourse to samplers and click-tracks, they obviously owe a huge debt to the likes of Kraftwerk and particularly Daft Punk on tracks like the single "Black Gloves", where a brutish disco beat underpins the fizzing synthesiser riff, and "Girl", an exercise in electro-eroticism in the Goldfrapp style but minus the pony tails and Alison Goldfrapp's slinky voice, replaced by a more stridently blokeish vocal. It's okay for a few tracks, but quickly palls; the band don't have access to the blissful melodies that sustain Kraftwerk, and the martial stomps eschew the rhythmic intricacies that add a persuasive itchiness to more complex exponents. The lyrics are mostly forgettable variations on the "get up and dance" theme, apart from "Slow Down", which includes the odd neologism "crowling". What can they mean?

DOWNLOAD THIS: 'Black Gloves', 'Girl'