Crystal Fighters – Star of Love

And so – joining Crystal Castles, Crystal Antlers and Crystal Stilts to form a veritable Crystal kingdom – Crystal Fighters break out their debut, Star of Love. To set themselves apart, Fighters proudly advertise the Basque influence on their dance-punk, but just how well these two elements fuse is difficult to say. Lead singer Sebastian Pringle is divisive for a start; on songs like Xtatic Truth and Plage he affects a parody of a Spanish-Latin accent, like he's doing his best Cheech and Chong.

This move is a questionable stylistic decision at best and at its worst is a bit of light minstrelsy that offends the eardrums as much as it does the sensibilities. When female members Mimi and Laure lead the way they fare much better, case in point being I Love London which clicks along with endearingly awkward pronunciation towards an ecstatic chorus, calling to mind CSS or, earlier still, Cibo Matto. It’s a mixed business. [Oisín Kealy]