Claps: New Science

Isn’t it a bit of a letdown that you can tell exactly what this EP will sound like just by looking at the cover? Another in a long line of new millennial synthy stabs at early ‘80s new wave revivalism, Claps’ New Science is unabashedly faceless, heavily indebted to both the retro (the early Ministry-ish “Fold”) and the modern (singer Patrick Donohoe’s OMD-by-way-of-the-Killers’-Brandon-Flowers vocals). The Minnesota trio makes sure to only use analog synths (because, dammit, that’s how they did it in the good old days), which does give the music a haunting minimalist vibe that enhances the group’s decent-but-cliché synthpop melodies. Perfect if you want a few more tunes to fill out your Wax Trax!/Mute-themed DJ set, but otherwise it’s been done so, so many times before.