Album Review: Cut Copy - Zonoscope

Cut Copy's sophomore album, In Ghost Colours, provided a pristine day-glo dance soundtrack to the summer of 2008. It was a great, vibrant record that enjoyed a prolonged spell on this listener’s headphones. On this, their third outing, the Melbourne trio have recorded a batch of songs that sound similarly tailor-made for the festival circuit. Zonoscope plays uncannily like a mixtape, with snatches of familiar sounds and styles jostling for position, as well as some fairly obvious pastiches popping up throughout.

Six-minute opener ‘Need You Now’ steadily builds up the layers and makes for a great start. Frontman Dan Whitford sounds uncannily like The National’s Matt Berninger as he croons his way through the track with beguiling elegance. Fast-forward through ‘Take Me Over’, which appears to steal its bassline from Men At Work's '80s novelty-pop stinker ‘Land Down Under’ (surely too clunky a reference for a bunch of cool Aussies to make?!?), and it’s good times and summer vibes all the way. ‘Where I’m Going’ takes the album into psychedelic '60s pop territory – all "woo-hoo!"s, "yeah!"s and "la la la"s - it’s a three-and-a-half-minute shot of instant happiness.

There are admittedly a couple of slight, forgettable tracks, and at times it can seem like Cut Copy are on a mission to set a new bar for lyrical daftness, but they reach a high-water mark (musically at least) on ‘This Is All We’ve Got’. Sure, those 'Be My Baby' drums are an obligatory reference-point these days, but the song's chorus is an explosion of colour and melody, and is simply what the band do best.

While it will be arms-aloft once the summer rolls in, there’s a nagging feeling that Zonoscope might not get to spend quite as much time on your home stereo as In Ghost Colours did. For all the record's feel-good vibes, there isn’t quite the same sense of urgent exuberance as can be found on dance-rock classics ‘So Haunted’ and ‘Unforgettable Season’. Even still, as closing track ‘Sun God’ builds and builds to its 'Screamadelic' climax, you’ll find it impossible not to throw yourself into it, no matter how idiotic the lyrics - which have seemingly been tailored to maximise the sense of homage to Bobby Gillespie - may sound. You can bet it will all sound amazing in a muddy tent full of plastic cups in six month’s time.