It’s far too early to be proclaiming albums of the year. Suffice it to say that had this record been released a month ago it could have run away cackling with such an accolade for 2010. Their masterstrokes are three fold. One was hiring producer Chris Coady, who helped make indie stars from Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Beach House. The second was streamlining the confusingly aggressive fuzz of their debut record into something all the more agreeable, leaving space for songs to breathe and gestate. The third was ensuring that songs were all superbly written, not doing much to subvert the art of classic songwriting, but making all ten cuts shining examples of how to write a song.

In amongst those three near defining masterstrokes are the twists and turns of a supremely entertaining and thoughtful record. Unashamedly seventies in feel and gloriously bombastic in execution, it doesn’t hang about and dives in all guns blazing as though it were an over enthusiastic teenager finally about to lose their virginity.

Ethereal and energetic in equal measure the record is captivating throughout and kicks off with “Weekend,” a near perfect pop song, right down to the group harmonies, soaring synth strings and the ‘na na na’’s.

“Still New” is again perfectly crafted, the chorus switching from sweet to soaring in each bar, juggling genuinely interesting compositions and catchy melodies as it does so, with echoes of David Bowie ringing throughout. The influence of T-Rex pops up on the next track as the mood shifts to a more upbeat one, all the time underwritten by often mournful sounding vocals.

“All Die Young” soothes with a surprisingly tasteful use of an organ, the T-Rex influence rears its head again on “End of the Night,” this time jostling with seventies era Elton John, and “Dye The World” closes out the record perfectly. The only tracks that resemble anything close to filler are “Fallen In Love” and “Dance Away,” but even these have compelling energy and are perfectly enjoyable when taken in context with the rest of the album.

During the recent ludicrous 80s revival with disgusting synths, vocoder vocals and a distinct lack of imagination this record is particularly refreshing and hopefully prefigures a return to proper songs in 2011. If the eventual switch to this style does happen it would be surprising if anything else were nearly this good, or this defiantly original.

Conclusion: A great way to start the year.