Do you love The Smiths, Duran Duran and New Order? So does Elkland. With the Apart EP (and the forthcoming debut album Golden), the band set out to make classic-sounding, shimmering synthpop music in the vein of the bands mentioned above but with an eye toward the future. They dug deep into their collection of vintage analog synthesizers and drum machines for the recording, using them in interesting ways in an attempt to create a new “new wave” sound the kids could fall in love with. Mission accomplished. With simple bass lines, addictive melodies and ass shaking electronic beats, the five-song Apart EP is simultaneously a blast from the past and a modern day dance party waiting to happen. The title track has “first single” written all over it and judging from the success of the Killers, it should be taking off any time now. The rest of the EP is a sampling of tracks that will be included on Golden when it’s released in March and a Jacknife Lee remix of “Apart”. To run through it quickly, “Salvation” is a dark, drum-machine intensive, spaced out jam for the drug addicts in the house. It pleads with “all the kids blowing lines” and “all the kids with the heroin eyes” to “don’t do it”, officially marking the coolest-sounding public service announcement ever created. The pulsating synthpop goodness of “I Think I Hate Her” and the soaring falsetto of “Everytime You Tell Me That You Love Me” are just two more reasons to be excited about this young band’s forthcoming album.
