Drawing on synth and techno-drenched pop of the 80’s, Alan Lauris’s second full-length CD, “Different Frequency,” is a fun and joyous romp into dance music’s glorious past. With a cool, restrained tenor voice not unlike Sparks’ Russell Mael (sans Mael’s outrageously wicked flights of falsetto), Lauris delivers proto-dance pop with an infectious nod-and-a-wink exuberance that’s irresistible. Most effective are the straight-up dance floor gems like the CD opener, “Time Out” or “You Need a Shredder,” although the frenetic, “The Ratrace” (which is a little reminiscent of the wonderful 70’s Sparks knock-off band, Jet) is brilliant. But the Dutch composer & producer also demonstrates a keen flair for other pop styles too, particularly on the top-hat-and-tap-shoe “Puttin’ On the Ritz”-like number, “Snowball”, and the celluloid-infused melancholy of “Same Old Building.” Well-executed from start to finish (with full-length and radio edits of three songs), the 13-track “Different Frequency” CD is not so much an updating of a sound once defined by performers such as Pet Shop Boys & Human League as it is a sincere & lively celebration of their sound and the era.
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