Lyrics Get Myself Into It

It's like watching post-punk unfurl all over again, with the PiL and Gang of Four circa-1979 jaggedness of Echoes sanded down to early Reagen-era bloat, ripped up, and started again in perfect chronological order. Our first new Luke Jenner-led track finds the band forging past Remain in Light, channeling post-punk's later lesser-knowns like Pigbag, 23 Skidoo, and Liquid Liquid.

Matt Safer's typically cyclical bassline reads like jazz for dummies (or punks), while Jenner's guitar sprinkles coked-out reverb in moderation rather than hijacking the song with castrated arena riffs à la Andy Gill. That saxophone from "Open Up Your Heart" comes back for revenge, this time sounding more natural in the foreground than novelty, and I'm left pondering one thing: If and when they progress to late-80s heavy metal, they'll still somehow sound trendier and more ahead of the curve than their dance punk contemporaries.