Stoned Boys – Dangerous Skies (2011) [Look At Me] // Grade: A-

Seriously? These guys are like machines. Lest you thought the electro-fury of last year’s Burning Cities Forever couldn’t be outdone, peep Dangerous Skies. The Moscow duo’s first proper full-length is a bloody brawl of hellish, infected dance jams; a full-on sound onslaught that suggests the frantic genre-jumping of their previous release but amps it up so hard, it feels like your skull might crack. From the tribal, bass-influenced opener “Time To Dance” to the schizophrenic title track and wonky electro-pop of “Shining Liquid”, Dangerous Skies sizzles with an addictive energy, the sort of bright freneticism that slices your eardrums, shatters your bones but begs you, compels you, to move.

And it all hinges on the duo’s pop influence. Stoned Boys have always courted a vague new wave vibe, but it bubbles into full fruition here. Between the glitchy, skittering synths and riotous clatter of beats, so many of these tracks have an overwhelming catchiness about them: Duran Duran-esque vocals, cyclical melodies, a real verse-chorus situation that plays off the songs’ spastic backbone with startling control. It’s an explosive, tightly honed, seriously dynamic debut that puts Stoned Boys firmly in the 2012 Bands to Watch category; if their previous track record is any indication, the intensity isn’t even close to stopping here.

Download Stoned Boys’ Dangerous Skies (Click Here)

- Rue Sauvage