Liverpool-based quartet Ladytron are not exactly afraid to wear their influences on their sleeve. Named after an early Roxy Music track, they've built up a healthy following by peddling a brand of glacial synthpop that clearly owes a huge debt to both Kraftwerk and The Human League. Any lack of originality, however, is more than made up for by the magnificently eerie soundscapes they conjure up on this excellent second album. Vocalists Mira Aroyo and Helen Marnie don't just dress like showroom dummies, they sing like them too: deadpan, passionless and disturbingly jaded. Backed up with military electro-riffs, it all amounts to a powerful evocation of the alienated, robotic nature of modern life that probably should be played in a deserted shopping centre for maximum effect. Light And Magic isn't exactly a revolutionary album, and at times its sheer blankness makes it hard to engage with. In an increasingly juvenile pop world, however, it represents a welcome blast of classy maturity and should be the discerning choice for existential, polo-neck clad students this season.
