GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY
Robotique Majestique

With an orchestrated build-up on its opening moments—spaceship roars, muffled tympani, a generic-yet-potent Funeral For A Friend pomp—this Austin duo’s third album should either fall on its grandiose ass or carry on with epic splendor. Surprisingly, screechy singer Aaron Behrens and his bink-boinking keyboard-playing pal Thomas Turner find an operatic middle ground that updates Europe’s “The Final Countdown” for the smart set. That is, if we’re defining “smart” as Vince Clarke-era Depeche Mode. With that in mind, you have to figure Ghostland Observatory’s sound peaked around autumn 1983, give or take a few weeks. While no one would ever accuse Behrens of subtlety of any sort (you can’t get heavier than “Heavy Heart” and the album’s title track), the duo does manage to imply a garage band’s Hammond-organ plink on “Dancin’ On My Grave.” After that tinkle, it’s a musky, majestic affair that, if you’re prepared, is probably funny. But only if you’re prepared. [Terrorbird, www.terrorbird.com]

—A.D. Amorosi