Do You Come from A Land Down Under?

Despite other countries hogging the alternative dance floor with electronica duo Justice, nu-ravers Klaxons, and glitch-happy Crystal Castles, Australia’s Midnight Juggernauts get down Down Under with a fresh take on live indie/dance rock. Their debut album Dystopia blends the spacey operatic quirkiness of David Bowie’s Space Oddity, the sci-fi house format of Daft Punk’s Discovery, and the instrumental progressiveness of Holy Fuck.
Into the Galaxy and “Shadows” immediately shoot listeners back to the visuals of the film “Interstella 555,” drawing heavily from Discovery‘s bubbly bass lines and shimmering synth scales backed by slippery wet drums.

“Dystopia” and “Road to Recovery” definitely tap into Ratatat’s past two albums with a heavy kick drum accompanied by ’70s-era vocal stylings much like Roger Waters. But with funk-laden instrumentals, one can hear a hint of the group The 5th Dimension as well.

Instead of declining in what could have been a sluggish finish, the last few tracks, with the exception of “Aurora,” beg listeners to indulge in their hipster club fantasies by climaxing the BPMs and really showing how much Midnight Juggernauts studied New Order’s Substance. That’s because this is what this album has: substance. As a whole, Dystopia was brave enough to take a different path despite the possibility of being more focused and being sometimes too experimental for any electronica listener’s own good. This release will surely inspire more dance artists to focus on the album instead of waiting for Diplo to remix their singles.