The last time German electronic adventurers Mouse on Mars released a studio album was 2006's Varcharz, an idiosyncratic and often harsh exploration of noise and texture. Six years later, the duo of Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma return with a new LP, Parastrophics, and our first listen from the new album suggests that MoM have picked up a different thread. Though it hearkens back to the swirling and colorful electro-pop they were making at the turn of the millenium, what makes Parastrophics cut "Polaroyced" so impressive is how unbelievably current it sounds. The track's colorful sonic squiggles and stuttering, change-on-a-dime bombast places it within the framework of "Maximal Nation" producers like Rustie and Hudson Mohawke, while the razor-sharp glitches and playful tone serve as a reminder that, no matter how "in fashion" this sound is, "Polaroyced" still sounds very specifically like a Mouse on Mars production.

[from Parastrophics; out 02/28/12 via Monkeytown]