Pitchfork

New wave is hardly a genre asking for today's increasingly chic drum+instrument treatment, but Brooklyn duo Matt and Kim get the greenlight all the same. Unlike, say, the White Stripes, whose minimalist approach strips classic rock back down to its grass roots, Matt and Kim hardly constitute a paradigm shift in jerky, synth-laden pop. In fact, one cursory listen and you probably wouldn't even notice only two people are performing.

With eleven songs in under half an hour, Matt and Kim meets textbook pop standards. Matt's right hand and voice provide interlocking lead melodies; his left hand and Kim's peppy percussion bubble underneath. So yes, it's formulaic in both the best and worst sense of the word. Nearly every track kicks off with a stomping beat from Kim while Matt slowly pours on first a buzzing bassline, and then the song's signature synth riff. Also, pretty much every track follows the A-B-A-B songwriting formula, only very rarely venturing off into hushed breakdowns or, even rarer, bridges.

Still, as their video for "5k" suggests, Matt and Kim are the quintessential "party" band, each song winding up and exploding on cue before reloading for the next number. This quality probably best distinguishes them from the similarly constructed duo Mates of State, whose nuanced nooks and crannies would be drowned out in Matt and Kim's anthemic, make-every-chorus count universe.

Two-minute powderkegs "It's a Fact" and "5k" set the standard for explosive party numbers here, both skittering over anxious verses in gleeful anticipation of a sing-along refrain. Even when scanting the tempo, the band can't stop exuding energy-- they can only hope to contain it. "Dash After Dash" and "No More Long Years" soar on strangely melancholic synth lines, though Matt's snotty vocals combined with Kim's scattershot drumming dissipate any lingering emo residue.

The "e" word looms over most of the debut, particularly during moments when the instruments are hushed and Matt's disarming squawks take center stage. Much like the last We Are Scientists record, Matt and Kim presents left-of-center, almost post-punk concepts alongside surprisingly simple melodies and song structures. While not exactly up to the task of stitching together such disparate influences as Wire, the Fall, Weezer, and Hot Hot Heat, Matt and Kim's debut sports enough interesting hooks and bacchanalian 'tude to mask the artistic clumsiness.