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Ladytron have keys to success
By Arwa Haider Last updated at 00:00am on 14.11.01Exuding a supreme deadpan cool and with all four members playing 'synthetics', Ladytron wield some of the most exciting electronic pop you'll hear right now.
The Liverpool-based four-piece formed in mid-1998, with careers spanning from Britain to Japan and Bulgaria. The title of their debut EP, Commodore Rock, pretty much sums up the Ladytron sound: a sharply catchy fusion of retro keyboards and surreal halfspoken vocals, like a frisky remix of Kraftwerk, Giorgio Moroder and Miss Kittin.
An essential introduction to the outfit, however, arrived in the form of this year's acclaimed full-length album, 604 (Invicta Hi-Fi), crammed with insistent refrains, from their He Took Her To A Movie single (apparently recorded for £50) to the super-catchy The Way That I Found You and new single PlayGirl.
In fact, the latter could represent their long-overdue break into the mainstream, having been fabulously remixed by US club hero (and self-confessed Ladytron devotee) Felix da Housecat. In any case, Wednesday night represents a hotly anticipated date; Ladytron's last UK show was a support slot back in spring and they've generated a hardcore following since.
With glacial vocalists Mira Aroyo and Helen Marnie at the helm and Daniel Hurt and Reuben Wu lurking craftily in the wings, this Scala gig should be pure electro-fabulous.
