While with their debut album "Rock It To The Moon", atmospheric instrumentals were pretty much the order of the day, "The Power Out" finds Brighton grrls ELECTRELANE re-writing their template to a positive degree to feature virtually all vocal-based outings and singer Verity Susman trying out a variety of - quite unusual - vocal gymnastics in English, German, French and Spanish en route.
The end results, while occasionally faltering, are largely fascinating, too. For instance, zippy opener "Gone Under Sea" features Susman doing a credible Laetitia Sadier until the whole band smash in for the wonderful, clangorous crescendo. Nice start, and further reinforced by the reappearance of spiky recent single "On Parade" swiftly in its' wake.
The album continues to cover more ambitious bases. The evocative "Oh Sambra!", with warm organ and a great snaky bassline from Rachel Dalley finds Susman singing in Spanish from a sonnet by Juan Boscon and the sterner "This Deed" features some attractive close harmony singing and a quote or two from Friedrich Neitszche. Perhaps the best track here, though, is "The Valleys", which Susman adapted from a Siegfried Sassoon poem and brought in a Chicago choir to fulfill her vision. The band flesh out this arrangement with subtlety and - with the choir giving it their best Volga boatman gusto - the whole caboodle does sound undeniably ace.
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At a tangent, "Take The Bit Between Your Teeth" is splendid, too. Digging in with a riff that's a ringer for Johnny Kidd's ancient "Shakin' All Over", the girls brickbat the tune around and set up a rocker that sounds like Tom Verlaine jamming with the Velvets and everyone involved gets off on the sheer energy. Tops.
In truth, the momentum's struggling as we make for the chequered flag, with both "Love Builds Up" and "Only One Thing Is Needed" the main culprits in the 'forgettable' stakes. Huh, did I say 'forgettable'? I WANT to forget Susman's ridiculously OTT organ explorations on "Love Builds Up": if I want Dave Greenfield's keyboard sound from 1977, I'll stick with "No More Heroes," thanks very much.
But, despite the irregularities and knotty moments, there's some really dreamy stuff here, and for the most part, "The Power Out" crackles invitingly and suggests, spiky, inventive post-punk sounds are in caress-worthy hands here.
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