Album review: Little Boots - Hands (4.5/5)

Hands is the debut pop album I've been waiting for, and it doesn't disappoint. Little Boots has generated much buzz this year. When I first heard about her in January, what I saw and heard was promising, but frankly a bit suspect. Sure "Stuck on Repeat" was a killer song, but "Little Boots" is an odd name for a singer, and her onstage act, which consisted of her singing while manipulating a Japanese music gizmo, was a bit suspect.

In a move sure to divide her early fans, Hands is a confident step toward mainstream acceptance. While Little Boots wrote or co-wrote every song here, she enlisted some pretty A-list pop producers, namely Greg Kurstin and Richard Stannard, both of whom have worked with Kylie (as well as Lily Allen and Will Young respectively). Songs that first appeared as long dance cues have been edited to radio-friendly lengths, such as "Stuck on Repeat," which frankly, I always preferred in its tight 4-minute form. "Meddle," the other early-release track in here too, along with a tight set of appealing electro-pop that shoots to boost Little Boots as a Kylie-styled sophisticate rather than a Lady GaGa-esque tramp.

The album opens strong with stomping first single "New in Town," followed by melodic "Earthquake." Then there's my favorite, the mesmerizing "Stuck on Repeat," awash in heady synth chords and a sharp dance beat. Slick "Click" opens with a throbbing bass line before transitioning to a very Kylie-like sexy synth number. "Remedy" is the closest she comes to sounding like Lady GaGa--energetic, electro dance pop with a distorted synth melody and meaningless lyrics about the dance floor. No surprise it's produced by RedOne, who helmed all of GaGa's recent hits.

For all the pop sheen, Little Boots hasn't completely shed her eccentric side. Quirky "Meddle" courses along with clangy beats and synth bleeps. I wasn't so keen on this track months ago, but it's grown on me. "Ghosts" is even stranger, and probably the only track that hasn't won me over yet. "Mathematics," one of the more '80s-styled tracks, cleverly runs through a series of arithmetic metaphors for relationships. It achieves more witty one-liners than it does a coherent idea ("your X is equal to my Y, but equations pass me by"), but is fun nonetheless.

"Symmetry," the highlight of the album's weaker second half, is an '80s-styped synth pop song featuring the guy from the Human League. "Tune into My Heart," however, is one of the album's weakest tracks--it definitely sounds like Kylie filler. "Hearts Collide" is a little better for its darker sound, but still doesn't live up to the quality of the earlier tracks. "No Brakes" is better, with a good electronic bassline and an overall mood of uplift to finish the album.

In short, Hands is the best pop debut so far this year, if not the best pop album. While not perfect, it's a very good start--upbeat, melodic, '80s-inspired but still modern, mainstream but not cookie-cutter--there's little not to like.

Best: Stuck on Repeat, New in Town, Remedy, Symmetry, Click, Earthquake, Meddle