Neon Neon's "Stainless Style"

Neon Neon -- I Lust U (featuring Cate Le Bon)

Neon Neon, the collaboration between Boom Bip (who I've had a soft spot for ever since he released that amazing track with folk favourite Nina Nastasia) and Gruff Rhys (of Super Furry Animals), have finally released their first album Stainless Style. You might remember Boom Bip's Neon Neon "Stainless Style" mixtape from November, which featured a few tracks from the album, as well as Prince, Janet Jackson, Neil Young, and that crazy catchy funereal Goblin track which you probably know better from Justice's "Phantom" (which, unlike "D.A.N.C.E.", doesn't make me want to claw my eyes out every time I hear it.) The album, after a long delay, came out this tuesday on Lex Records, and is basically concept album about... John DeLorean (yeah, that's right, DeLorean, as in the car in Back to the Future. Gary, are you reading this?)

Pitchfork described Stainless as a culmination of recent hipster zeitgeist (actually... pretty accurate) and my friend John brushed it off as a weaker Sebastién Tellier ripping off Kavinsky(whose alter ego died in a car crash in 1986 and apparently is making music from beyond the grave -- check out the video for Testarossa Autodrive, which is so cool it hurts, if you haven't seen it.) But, er, it's a really well done culmination of hipster zeitgeist, and I mean, I really like Sebastién Tellier, and Kavinsky, and also The Knife and Ladytron, which "I Lust U" in particular also recalls -- though Boom Bip's other influences, from hip hop to mechanical car clinking noises, plus a heavy dose of 80's pop and Italo disco, surface throughout the album. And, uh, I kind of can't stop listening to the album.

Download an older mix of "I Lust U" from XLR8R or stream the whole album on imeem. Tracks to note besides "I Lust You": "Trick for Treat", which features Spank Rock and Sean Tillman, the synthy "Belfast," and the "Neon Theme," which just sounds like a badass 80's movie soundtrack.