Klaxons

The 2007 debut Myths of the Near Future gave that mixture a coherent world of its own. Golden Skans is a particularly graceful example: the vocal melody seems to hover while the instruments keep making small, angular movements underneath it.

The contrast is important. A smooth chorus can feel more luminous when the surrounding parts are slightly abrasive or unsettled. Klaxons made use of that difference instead of choosing between an attractive pop surface and a more awkward musical personality.

It’s Not Over Yet reworks the song associated with Grace, bringing a familiar dance melody into the band’s more ragged setting. The connection to club music is audible in the writing, even though the treatment changes the texture and the kind of energy the song produces.

That approach is more revealing than the new-rave label which followed the band. They were interested in the memory and emotional shape of dance records, and in what could happen when those qualities were played through guitars, drums and tightly interlocking voices.

Surfing the Void followed in 2010, with Echoes introducing the second album’s heavier, more expansive sound. The strange imagery and crooked melodic turns remained, but the arrangements had more weight.

The debut is still the quickest way into the band’s peculiar sense of pop. Golden Skans makes something inviting out of parts that do not quite settle, and that slight feeling of imbalance is what keeps the song interesting after the hook has become familiar.