Cirrus

Cirrus presents a pleasing album of pop-influenced electronica where over the 12 tracks the band use breakbeats, decent melodies and the vocals of Laura Derby to create a fun dance album. Vocal tracks like "Boomerang" and "You Are (Panacea)" are good examples of catchy tunes. "Straight Laid Out," with its Chemical Brothers-styled beats and vocodered voices, and "Breakbeat Suckers," with its funky horns, goes straight for the dance floor. "Half a Cell" is notable for sounding like a drum & bass Cocteau Twins. Although the band uses electronic sounds almost exclusively, it still has a "live" feel to it. Some of the slower tracks are a little dull, and I could do without the "by the numbers" rapping on some of the more upbeat tracks. The second half of the album is a little unfocused and some of the tracks could have been left off, or perhaps the entire album could be re-sequenced to sustain the energy of the first half.