Moonlife, Reach the Stars Review

Overall Rating

Immaculate recreation of '80s alterna dance; hook-driven synth pop; engaging balance of uptempo rhythms and introspective brooding.

Moonlife Reach the Stars: Somebody must've shot through the fabric of reality, bolted into the '80s, and kidnapped Moonlife for today's consumption. Moonlife certainly do not long belong in this time period and bless them for that.

Colourfully attired New Wave trio Moonlife subscribe to '80s aesthetics, which they showcase with unrestrained abandon. You know the drill, Rock of the '80s youngsters: bleeping synthesizers, ice-cube English vocals, sad-sack lyrics. There was once a time when dinosaurs like Heaven 17, the Human League, and Kon Kan tossed glistening electronic ditties like confetti. Moonlife is a reminder of how those sounds are deeply missed.

Avoiding the post-punk angle recently adopted by a flock of U.K. upstarts, Moonlife head straight to the computer room - or the nearest dance club. Pogo-inducing numbers such as "I Heard You (On The Telephone)" and "Can't Stop" would've been slobbered over by KROQ's Richard Blade back in the day.

But it's not just about dancing in heaven for these 24 hour party people. "Cruel" is perhaps the finest love-will-tear-us-apart again ballad since Prefab Sprout's "When Love Breaks Down" in 1985.