Gentlemen Of Leisure

It's hard to take this record very seriously. We're told that the Gentlemen - Deiter Mueller and Karl Heinz - met in the clubs of Germany and have since "relocated" to the U.S. with their stylish clothes packed into their Louis Vuitton bags. Style and story tend to be favoured over substance yet again - the artwork even features the sharp-dressed men posing with a DeLorean sports car, naturally. This serves as a nice tip-off for the strong '80s dance influence on this album. Admittedly, the backing music is well-produced, catchy synth pop - a great throwback to groups like Trans-X or Yaz. The melodies are cool and the old school rhythm programming is definitely slick. Sadly, the vocals sound like an unwelcome intrusion in what could have been a very wicked electro record, something that could stand up against artists like Daft Punk. Rather than attempting to infiltrate the crowded modern techno scene, the GOL have gone the pop road, wanting to be seen as a "band" of sorts, which does work against them. Still, if you're the type of person who can still listen to an Information Society record and really get into it, the GOL will definitely be your bag.