Indie dance-rock outfit Moving Units' full-length debut, DANGEROUS DREAMS, is so full of nods to early-1980s music that it almost plays like a pop history lesson. The band draws on the rhythmic grooves of A Certain Ratio, the angular guitars of Gang of Four, the British-inflected interjections of the Fall, and the dark melodic sense of Joy Division. The listener can also discern snippets of the Cure ("Between Us and Them"), U2 ("Scars"), '80s commercial Britpop on the order of Duran Duran ("Submission"), and MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD-era Talking Heads (the band's only overt American reference).
But Moving Units synthesize these sources in a credible and catchy way, merging the edge of post-punk with the dance-oriented sensibility of the early-MTV milieu. The record's lead-off track, "Emancipation," marries a disco drumbeat with a burbling bass and wiry rhythmic guitars, not to mention a falsetto vocal tag riding over the top. The spare, chilly "Anyone" recalls any number of synth-heavy '80s club hits, complete with handclap rhythm track. DANGEROUS DREAMS bears up under the weight of its borrowing, however, and packs a wonderfully fun retro punch.