M83 — Saturdays=Youth

There was a period of time back in the early 2000s when old-school synth-pop really seemed to hit a stride. Daft Punk shocked fans with the disco-infused Discovery. Fischerspooner appeared on the scene with their critically lauded #1. "Electroclash" was suddenly the word on every hipster's lips, but that movement died almost as abruptly as it started. Anthony Gonzalez — the driving force behind M83 — is revisiting those days, seemingly oblivious to any negative connotations that electro-pop has been collecting in the backlash years. Consider Saturdays=Youth a loose concept album that examines high school teen drama through a wash of grandiose synth and dance floor beats (and yes, that works). Perhaps the most intriguing component is the sporadic insertion of spoken word parts that sound as if they're chunks of monologues from a David Lynch film: "7 a.m./Dusty road/I'm gonna drive until it burns my bones." It's creepy at times, but definitely memorable.

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