xrayok

Be careful where you listen to the new self-released xrayok EP Like Life — you’re likely to find your pulse quicken and your body move without permission to the throbbing, ’80s-informed dance-rock sound. With atmospheric vocals and haunting keyboard lines, xrayok mixes enough New Wave appeal to tempt you to buy a pack of cloves, but delivers it with the kind of modern urgency Chris Martin only wishes he could muster up on the last Coldplay record. Sing-along choruses, hooky piano lines and sparkling Bob Hoag production make a potent antidote for anyone who’s overdosed on Franz Ferdinand and The Bravery in search of what is hip. From opener “The Luster,” beckoning with a yearning dance groove, to “Sunshine,” the final track, winding down into a contemplative confidence, Like Life sounds like a night of hungry kisses that bleed into the dawn of a satisfied morning after.