It starts off with suffocated techno beats for a few seconds then it’s all gung-ho and synth-punk. Don’t worry, I don’t think there’s too much posturing at work from this Melbourne trio, even if there are a few gimmicks that could be taken the wrong way, like dark synths, and it’s a little bit ‘angular’ and shit, you know? But Actor/Model use their setup of guitars and keyboards well and it’s fun. Simplicity is the key. It reminds me a little of Brooklyn duo Matt & Kim; synth pop or synth punk or both, lots of call and response vocals between the boy and girl. It’s never sugarsweet but has enough melodies to bolster it especially combined with skittering cymbals and a real danceablility. In parts it can be fairly breezy; the last two tracks are six and seven minutes respectively. Really though, they’re more inclined to keep it a little bit messy and throw in some distortion. ‘I Dot Heart’ reminds me of Sonic Youth’s Murray St with keyboards, the following (and last) track ‘Laptop Dancing’ is more focused on being a slower type of freak out jam. It’s a bunch of pretty good influences if you ask me, and guided in the right direction too.
Richard MacFarlane
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