Starting off with the new wave-y “Cocaine Trade,” this record may take a couple of listens to realize that behind the ’80s club anthem sounds, Hansen’s lyrics are about such topics as sex tourism, realizing you’re past doing coke and going out clubbing (“I thought the music was sweet, it was just ’cause the drugs matched the beats”), sexual abuse and Kierkegaard. Segueing from electropop to hip-hop, it’s a highly listenable and danceable record from the Edmonton band, yet still tinged with a certain darkness and sadness.
This article appears in Feb 4-10, 2010.