Out Hud

When Out Hud’s S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D. snuck out at the tail end of 2002, most of us who heard it were floored. Dance floored, that is. But none of us realised at the time that it would eventually stand up as the most defining and consistently moving full-length effort of the disco-punk movement. Fast forward through more than two years of big-budget disco-punk wannabes, the hype-enshrouded emergence (and instantaneous bombing) of Out Hud’s overrated sister band !!!, and the movement’s practically instantaneous saturation into most forms of modern music, and you’ve got a whole pile of feet worrying that Out Hud’s sophomore effort is going to be a titanic stinker. But Let Us Never Speak of It Again will ease your worries with ecstasy and still love you far into the coming months and years ahead. Sure, their studio tricks aren’t quite as invigorating the second time around, but Out Hud have effectively allowed their New York City state of mind to progress from early ’80s Mud Club to mid-’80s Paradise Garage, at times swapping their primitive ESG-like thump for a slightly more lush Cristina-ish wash of emotion. And guess what? The addition of female vocals that had you so worried only adds to the overall pleasure with their uplifting musicality.