Ontario Review of Ladytron's "Witching Hour"
No, not me, silly. This is a review from Mark Pytlick in Toronto. Let's get to the meat of the matter:
In fact, with the exception of a handful of singles, the best of which still felt brittle and two-dimensional, I never cared much for Ladytron. Granted, the whole electroclash thing getting levied against them seemed kind of unfair (the takeaway: keyboard basslines and polygonal haircuts are a gateway drug to dumb press)....
If they lacked the horsepower before, the year plus they spent touring behind 2002's Light & Magic put the meat on their bones....The Witching Hour is the most urgent and immediate [album] of their career. The earlier records were sort of toylike and plastic; this not only has a pulse, it has chilled blood in its veins.
Every quantum leap record has a quantum leap single, and in this case, it's "Destroy Everything You Touch"....[T]his is probably the most confident and menacing thing they've ever done. Almost as good is "International Dateline", which marries a pogo punk rhythm and a post-punky guitar lead with a keening vocal hook. With nothing but a transparent wash of synths and a simple minor-key vocal melody, closer "All the Way" demonstrates that Ladytron's advancement owes as much to their songwriting as it does to their increased production prowess. And, for better or worse, the barely concealed cocaine metaphor of "Sugar" ("If I get the sugar, will you get me/ Something elusive and temporary") proves they could go there if they wanted to....
Comments