Despite sounding like a Mexican karaoke troupe, Django Django are actually a cool East London quartet, whose new record is unlike most of what you’re likely to hear for the rest of 2012.

Their sound is far from original and their influences are easy to pinpoint – just take your pick from Hot Chip, Animal Collective, Metronomy, and any other band that’s made experimental but inoffensive indie pop-dance in the last decade. Much like the aforementioned acts, the Londoners have mastered the knack of creating simple but insanely catchy hooks – in fact, the record is one of the most infectious albums to grace this reviewer’s ears in a long time.

Songs such as choppy standout Default and ever-so-slightly psychedelic toe-tapper Hail Bop make a huge impression on the very first listen – and this is solely due to the fault that they are so darn catchy.

There’s variety too – Waveforms features tribal synths that provide a welcome break from the experimental jangle. Zumm Zumm, meanwhile, is markedly different – it almost sounds like it should be the background music for a Sega Mega Drive video game, yet it possesses another wildly catchy chorus, and is impossible to dislike.

Yet this album’s catchiness is unfortunately its downfall. It sounds brilliant on first listen, and even better around the fifth listen – but once you’re familiar with each song, it becomes clear that the sound is more style than substance. There is no real depth to the record, and it’s here that Django Django deviate from the likes of Animal Collective, whose experimental sound gets better with every listen, even years down the line.

It’s a cracking album though, and if, unlike me, you don’t listen to the same record over and over, you’ll be very pleased with your catchy, defiantly different purchase.

So for now it gets a seven. A week ago it would have gotten an eight. Two weeks from now, it might have gotten a six. You get the picture.

-Alex King-