Needs New Batteries

Electric Laser People has an egghead pedigree: vocalist Dan Paluska, guitarist Grant Kirstofek and drummer Clark Kemp all hold degrees from MIT, and one of Paluska’s robotic creations was featured on the cover of Juan Maclean’s debut album for DFA Records. Why do you need to know all of this? Because it’s about the only thing worth mentioning about Electric Laser People. Truth be told, the band isn’t half band. The production leans heavy towards electro-pop territory, and Kemp creates simple yet catchy drumbeats for the band to work off of. Unfortunately, Paluska’s painfully weak lyricism destroys any potential the band has. The horny schoolboy lament “TYCO (Take Your Clothes Off)” almost passes as a joke, but said joke is only funny for a single minute—not four.  “Realhiphop” would almost be unbelievably embarrassing if not for the melodic chorus, but even that can’t save the song entirely. The production is stiff but lively (though opener “Guilty” comes awfully close to sounding like full-on radio-pop candy). In the long run, the band needs not only a real producer, but also a real lyricist. Fun drinking game: take a shot any time Paluska calls out “girl!”. Even better: each time he calls it out, deduct a collective IQ point from the band.

• Multiple songs MySpace