The Rapture

The Rapture arrive like a prince at the dance-punk potluck with Echoes,a casserole of crispy electroclash-ic percussion, gooey blues guitar, and bubbling vocals. Think the Faint meets White Stripes and you'll come close. Containing the much and justly hyped "House of Jealous Lovers," Echoesis a bit cleaner than the band's previous albums, with golden royal strut on tracks like "Heaven" and "Echoes" and decadent vulnerability on "I Need Your Love." Because this group is so representative of post-punk style, standout tracks ("House of Jealous Lovers") sound pioneering, while less intriguing tracks ("Infatuation") blend into the genre's landscape. File this under "young white hobbledyhoys in tight jeans and shaggy haircuts whose guitar reverb, vocal warbling, and synthesizers represent the hazy uncertainties of youth in a technological age... or maybe just the hazy uncertainties of being drunk at a bar." It's a good listen, especially when drummer Vito Roccoforte makes like an Italian stallion and stampedes his drumheads and cowbell.