Lazer Crystal - MCMLXXX

 

Lazer Crystal are three electro-futurists who hail from Chicago, and their big thing – in case you hadn’t guessed – is lasers. Boy oh boy, do they love lasers. From what we can gather it makes for a truly mind-blowing live show, but the problem with MCMLXXX (it adds up to 1980 in Roman numerals) is that you’ll most likely be listening to it in your bedroom, or on your iPod while you pop out to buy cigarettes; i.e., in predominately laser-free environments. Still, while you may not be getting the full experience, Lazer Crystal’s psychotropic electro fug is heady enough in places; singer Mikale De Graff’s discombobulated vocal tones lend a certain robotic eeriness to Lame Duck and National Handbag, while 2029, the nine-minute instrumental epic that closes the album, is a bugged-out head rush that Holy Fuck would be proud of. But however well it works on record, it’ll always sound better live. With the lasers and that. [Barry Nicolson]