Minotaur Shock

Well, someone had to play OMD in rock 'n' roll's never-ending '80s remake -- why not Minotaur Shock? We mean that as a compliment; essentially the work of one man, David Edwards, Maritime's chipper, chirpy electro recalls both the spartan arrangements and the casual elegance of its British forebears. Nothing's here that doesn't have to be; Edwards works with simple rhythms and twinkling synths, offsetting dance-floor pulse with a cool, cascading melody ("Vigo Bay") and making buoyant supermarket Muzak feel forgivable ("Six Foolish Fisherman"). Maritime works because Edwards is insistently unfussy. Rather than clogging the songs with layer upon layer of sound, Edwards keeps them to two or three basic elements. Like the second-generation Factory bands he so effortlessly recalls, Edwards' charm is his simplicity. And because he rarely attempts anything grander than charming, bounding Casiopop, Minotaur Shock seldom disappoints.