MSTRKRFT

After a near three-year wait, Jesse F. Keeler and Al-P have released this highly energized sophomore album purposely designed to set your ears and head ablaze. For any electronica enthusiast, it's easy to see that this album will be devoured in clubs and house parties in the months to come, because it shows the multitude of sounds that can be harmoniously bridged together through this wonderful genre. Caught somewhere between the catchy eccentricity of earlier work The Looks, only with a greater emphasis on dancing and complexity of rhythms, Fist of God is a coming-of-age for the electro duo. Tracks such as "1000 Cigarettes" and "So Deep" are addictive and catchy as hell, reflecting the hyped-up, ADD-riddled generation this band cater to. At the same time, the album shows a greater diversity of sounds, as it incorporates definitive traces of Death From Above 1979's manic metal crunch and also the deep, anthemic beats that Keeler brought to his other project, Femme Fatale. What we get are very sexy results: the effects of well-rounded and well-versed musicianship accomplished with a machine-like exactness. The most impressive facet of the album is the added hip-hop sequences, sampling artists like Wu-Tang's Ghostface Killah, they mesh the plurality of these styles with great mastery, avoiding the oft-cheesiness this combination can produce. The name says it all: Fist of God conquers all styles of music with a tireless, omnipotent force that makes one dance all night long.