Astra Moveo

Anyone who's listened to Tyler Hayden's vocals in the post-punk/pop hybrid Laylights should be a able to pluck his love for a good groove out from the band's slithery, danceable sound. But if you're looking for more of a straight-up, dance party starting soundtrack, Hayden broadcasts it loud and clear here in his other act, Astra Moveo. The Denver band's electronic beats and sing-along choruses shared on its sophomore album are handcrafted with a simple purpose: to get your ass in motion.

Rather than dig deep into the synth/dance's usual pantheon of long-gone classics—Kraftwerk, Suicide, Devo, Depeche Mode—Astra Moveo looks a little nearer for inspiration, calling on the spirit of last decade's movers and shakers. The band's references have The Faint and She Wants Revenge rubbing up against an aesthetic gleaned from DFA’s top shelf artists like The Juan MacLean and LCD Soundsystem. Emphasizing traditional pop songcraft rather than the latest white-label 12-inch's combination of technological and stylistic innovations, Astra Moveo's secure with its position away from electronic music's cutting edge.

Astra Moveo settles into an ease of use with backbeats that boom, and what this steady thump lacks in complexity, it gains in sweaty dance floor appeal. Carrying a bright-eyed immediacy usually reserved for pop punk, Hayden's vocals are liberally chopped with effects that coincide with beautifully wracked and soulful, lusty overtones. The rest of Astra Moveo keeps up its end of the ear candy doctrine, pumping the live band with electronic overtones style that again calls on The Faint. “Dollface” is a swirl of stomping beats and grainy bass lines, full of vintage sounding synths that pipe in quasi-futuristic melodies reeking of an illicit underground dance scene. “No Other Man” spreads a glitter more inspired by French discothèque mainstays Air or Daft Punk. Overall, Astra Moveo's approach on this record is an unabashed, bordering on Top 40 love of straightforward accessibility. So much for the classic pantheon’s stranglehold on electronic musicians’ imaginations.