It's hard to take Austin, Texas, duo Ghostland Observatory seriously.
Singer Aaron Behrens dresses like the delinquent offspring of Prince and Pippi Longstocking (pigtails and all).
The band's biggest influence is apparently Longhorn legend and Heisman winner Vince Young.
The name of their new record can only be assumed to mean "majestic robotics" in some odd language.
However, when given a set of speakers, "Robotique Majestique" makes one thing very clear.
This band is no joke.
On its third LP, Ghostland Observatory abandons guitar sensibilities altogether and instead knocks out a dark dance floor romp that relies solely on the disco ball for flickering traces of light.
The appropriately stage-setting "Opening Credits" introduces the album's over-the-top electronic sound.
It also suggests the reason that gadget operator Thomas Ross Turner wears a cape onstage is because he's some sort of studio Superman.
A muscular, descending synth-riff drives the menacing "No Place for Me," a song that improbably captures the electricity of the combo's live show.
The equally impressive "Freeheart Lover" thrives on a gritty vocal performance, proving once and for all that falsetto is the perfect register in which to tell off a promiscuous girlfriend.
Finally.
Tailored for feverish Saturday nights, the singles "Dancing on My Grave" and "Heavy Heart" exist entirely for the turntable.
To call these tracks "funky" overstates funky.
George Clinton thinks these jams are outrageous.
If this isn't exactly the future of music, Ghostland Observatory has certainly constructed one first and it's a robot with heart, guts and balls.
A brain would be asking for too much and who needs that anyway?
