Politique

While this Ottawa foursome gives their electro pop compositions bounce, the production errs on the side of anaemic. Instead of it blowing the speakers apart, it seeps out, thus draining the considerable energy the musicians put into these songs. Drawing upon members of Liquified and Fight!Fight!Fight!, there’s a slinky swagger to these proceedings that, live, would definitely light up a dance floor. "Fragility Is Not Frailty” is the most rock-based thing here and it pulls together elements of indie and a dash of dark ’80s post-punk, while "Loveless” is the most enjoyably frenetic, with its smattering of bloopy sounds and intense cymbals. Politique also recall Metric’s finer moments on the addictive "She Makes My Mind Smile.” Yet, despite these high points, the album feels barren on occasion, sapping the inherent energy. "Young Fast Stupid” and "Headlines” both suffer from this, but at least it can be corrected and this strong debut does hold considerable promise for the future.