Jack Peñate: Everything Is New

Introducing Endless Mode: A New Games & Anime Site from Paste
Jack Peñate makes unabashed pop with an eye toward outfits like Wham and Fine Young Cannibals, acts that tried hard to create pitch-perfect, ludicrously danceable tunes. (As it happens, Peñate also looks like a young George Michael.) He emerges from a British scene that’s become severe and exacting, spawning groups like Franz Ferdinand and Maxïmo Park, which specialize in sounds often described as “angular.” Peñate’s disco—and that’s what it is, complete with synth stabs, cheeseball bells, and breathy female accompaniment—retains the precision of his peers, but has an altogether different motive: to start the party and keep it going.