936

In a song titled “All The Good Songs Have Been Written” from Peaking Lights’ 2008 album, Imaginary Falcons, the Madisonian psych-pop duo offered the fatigued concession that all the finest blueprints of pop songwriting have been well exhausted. Rather than waving the white flag, Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis decided to heed the advice of Scottish art-rock legends Orange Juice and simply “rip it up and start again.”

On 936, Peaking Lights share little sonically with OJ, but their notion is taken quite literally. Coyes plays re-animator to the electronic graveyards of St. Vincent De Paul, Frankensteining broken alarm clocks, toys, keyboards, and other assorted junk to do his bidding. The duo applies a similar philosophy to chopping up its influences into “What if …”-style fantasies. For instance, “Amazing And Wonderful” summons an image of Peter Hook and King Tubby sharing bloodshot glances in a jam spot as Rachel Goswell soars over the top with entrancing melodies.

Each tune finds Peaking Lights carving over a different wave of bouncing drum machine sequences, dubbed-out guitars that are drenched in cool reverb, choppy synth chords, and warm hums of bass. Dunis’ vocal melodies have been pushed much further toward the front of the mix this time around, and her delivery sounds more confident than it did on Imaginary Falcons. And 936 seems to explore huge emotional dynamics without losing itself in the process; the beaming hooks of “All The Sun That Shines” are a far departure from the subdued and haunting trudge of “Tiger Eyes (Laid Back).” Meanwhile, both tunes’ respective bass lines are sure to etch circles around listeners’ skulls as Coyes’ electronic junk chimeras conjure up layers of exotic voices that pull the listener into a world that really only belongs to Peaking Lights.