'The conventional is now experimental / The experimental is now conventional', spews Mark E. Smith on The Fall's track New Puritan, the source of these Southend-on-Sea youngsters' moniker. The man makes sense; the song in question may be almost thirty years old, but the sentiment is as relevant as ever. This time last year, Klaxons were being hailed as pioneers of a new 'experimental' genre; twelve months on, their album seems to have had more of an effect on teen fashion than on the musical landscape. These New Puritans will be eager to avoid comparisons with their dance-orientated counterparts, and well they should; the quartet, first formed in 2005 at the age of 17, have proven themselves to be more progressive and insightful than any of their contemporaries when it comes to trailblazing through the nu-rave genre. Beat Pyramid is an album that crams so much aural assortment and depth into its brief 35 minutes that at times, it's almost too much for the ears to take. See the detached-yet-unpretentious cool of stop-start opener Numerology, the manic post-punk riffery of Colours, the dreamy, Aphex Twin-does-Twin Peaks vibe of Doppelganger, or the apocalyptic swarm of Infinity Ytinifni as proof. It's not all unaccessible experimentation, though, worry not: C. 16th is a catchy, upbeat indie-dance number not unlike Bloc Party's She's Hearing Voices, while single Elvis is an immediate standout, its expansive riff and Jack Barnett's deadpan, almost spoken-word vocals providing a lighter alternative to the taut, rave-at-a-sci-fi-convention thread that links most of the sixteen tracks. Above all else, this is an album that will simply make you want to dance, dance, and dance some more; as MES himself might say, 'Hail These New Puritans'. Indeed.
