Brits make indie kids dance

Klaxons is the latest "soon-to-be-bigger-than-Jesus" band from across the pond -- but an experienced hipster knows that Britannia falls for seemingly any young, skinny, scruffy guitar-and-drum outfit that gets more than 10 people gyrating in the greater London area. Call it "Fab Four Syndrome," a perennial desire to find the next … you know who. Or perhaps launching a national marketing push behind a new band every six months helps Britain maintain a favorable (that is, "favourable") trade balance with America. Whatever the case -- despite the country's deservedly high rock cred, you just can't trust the covers of U.K. music mags to steer you right (not that you can trust Rolling Stone, either). So, now that the band's debut album, Myths of the Near Future, has arrived on these shores, we get to find out: Does Klaxons' bite live up to its buzz?\nThe answer is: sort of. Put simply: Myths' weaknesses are substantial, but they're counterbalanced by the album's energy, novelty -- and, most importantly, sense of fun. They are, essentially, a very lively neo-post-punk band (like Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, etc.) that incorporates hints of the late-'80s/early-'90s rave scene sound -- and that makes them eminently danceable. And since indie rock fans rarely do more than cross their arms and nod at shows, anything that gets them moving is cause for excitement.\nIn that spirit, let's get Myths' problems out of the way. First, the album has some of the silliest lyrics you'll hear all year. Supposedly they're describing their "fantasy version of the future" (Guardian, Feb. 7) -- something about a post-apocalyptic world, time travel, visions and a journey -- but it's mostly an indecipherable mess (complete with centaurs and cyclopes). Then there's the fact that Myths is kind of monochromatic. Each track is essentially a combination of the same big beats, wailing sirens, keyboard and distorted vocals and so on -- there's not a lot of variation, and things start blurring together around the fifth track, "As Above, So Below."\nBut this latter quality also works to Myths' advantage -- it's like a nonstop dance mix. And track after track, the hooks and beats just keep coming, consistently, relentlessly -- with "Golden Skans," "Totem On The Timeline," Gravity's Rainbow" and especially "Atlantis To Interzone" irresistibly compelling listeners to wave their arms in the air and shake their arses. And, in the end, that's the point, right?