MSTRKRFT 'Operator' review

Image: MSTRKRFT

The very fact that MSTRKRFT's last album came out seven years ago is enough to make you wonder where the duo could fit in a musical landscape that has changed a lot since dance-punk was flavour of the month.

Back when they released their first record in 2005, Al-P and Death From Above's Jesse Keller were able to tick all the boxes, one was a rock star and one was an electro pop musician, but surely it can't work any more?

Who knows, perhaps the time is right for a mid 00s nostalgia trip though. A listen to Justice's latest single may suggest so; its groove and hooks sound bang up to date and the French duo seem to have made a resounding comeback.

Unfortunately, the same can't quite be said here.

Operator blares and hollers, sometimes with little direction and seems to have lost the kind of finesse that made an album like this so popular way back when. It's a generally confusing affair and at times difficult to differentiate from one song to another.

Second track 'Runaway' (listen above) offers something a little more tangible but lacks a killer vocal rather than a monotonous 'do do do' that gets lost among grinding synth tones.

Likewise 'Death On The Gulf Stream' is definitely on the right track but lacks any kind of resounding moment that makes you want to scream 'tune' to one of your mates even though you've already played it to them countless times.

When you look at the amount of guest vocalists on MSTRKRFT's first two albums then you have to wonder why there aren't any here as they are absolutely a necessity.

For that reason it makes you think who the artist really made this album for but perhaps there's nothing wrong that. Revisiting the past was risky enough but doing it with such self indulgence unfortunately hasn't quite pulled off.

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