whwy

We’re Here With You, the sophomore record from Julien-K, exudes sexiness. It’s an electro-rock hybrid that is lightyears beyond the work that J-K members Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh did while they were in Orgy. It’s futuristic yet firmly planted in New Wave. Simply put, it’s amazing. If band’s took this long between their first and second albums (Almost 3 years in this case) and the end result was something akin to We’re Here With You, I’d forgive them for taking such a long time.

Think of them as the futuristic soul brothers of The Time (Original Se7en) with Ryan Shuck taking on the role of Morris Day with his silky smooth vocal delivery on songs like “Colorcast” and “Surrounded By Cowards”. If possible, Julien-K have perfected their 2009 masterpiece Death To Analog. At a concise 10 tracks, We’re Here With You is more in your face and direct than ever before.

Like Seal’s System or Madonnas’s Confession on a Dance Floor (Both masterfully produced by Stuart Price), WHWY takes the listener on a journey. In this case, each song is a “sonic postcard” of a different locale giving each a unique feel. Starting out with the title track, the dance floor immediately lights up and as you get deeper into WHWY, the songs get better and better. “Cruel Daze Of Summer” is probably the one that resembles DTA the most but even this one is way beyond. This one has “single” written all over it. From the driving beat to the sing-a-long chorus, “Cruel Daze…” is just perfect.

Speaking of singles, “Breakfast In Berlin” is a great introduction if you didn’t know Julien-K yet. The drums matched up with the fuzzed out bass along with Shuck’s voice building to the shimmering synth lines and cutting guitar riffs are just divine. The outro alone just rocks and will have you begging for a riff heavy 10-minute long megamix.

For me, “Colorcast” is the song that signals how flawless WHWY is. Shuck channels both Morris Day and Seal in this electronic wonderland of a song that morphs into a David Guetta jam in a heartbeat. Elsewhere, “Close Continuance” has the best chorus overall while “Nights Of Future Past” is the one that listeners can really hear Orgy come out on.

I don’t want to be presumptuous and say that We’re Here With You is definitely one of the best albums of 2012 when it’s only January but I’d be lying to you and kidding myself if I said otherwise. Julien-K is kicking 2012 off to a great start. Death To Analog was just the beginning.

We’re Here With You is out now. Get yours here and here.

Grade: A