Gang of Four - Content

Obviously, the music business has changed drastically since Gang of Four's last album, Shrinkwrapped, 16 years ago, but they are likely the only act to resort to selling vials of their own blood to fund a new album. Despite that, Content is no stylistic compromise — it offers the same hyperkinetic, slightly pretentious dance-punk that made the band's reputation 30 years ago. There is now a more robust but still disorienting disco bent (replete with robovoice effects on "It Was Never Gonna Turn Out Too Good") and a delightfully creepy nod to modern technology on "You Don't Have to Be Mad" ("You look good with no clothes on/ I'll take photos on my phone"). Diehards will find plenty of classic Gang guitar hooks and some amazingly tight, reptilian grooves. The tricky, tortured melody of "A Fruitfly in the Beehive" and the towering Entertainment!-like "Do As I Say" stand up surprisingly well to their classics. After a career that's spanned five decades and multiple transformations, it's oddly comforting that Gang of Four can still throw an infectiously paranoid party.