The Klaxons' Xan Valley EP

The Klaxon’s newest release Xan Valleys EP is an EP that listens like a full album. Most EP’s are barely worth a listen; The Klaxons, however, have elevated it to new standards. Those of you familiar with The Faint or Bloc Party will really dig the Klaxons’ sound; The Klaxons are Bloc Party minus the superiority complex and The Faint minus, well, minus The Faint. Xan Valleys opens with an attention grabbing punky track titled “Gravity’s Rainbow,” the chorus of which is a beautifully pleading appeal to a lover in the future. The funky/punky/soul blares as The Klaxons shout “I’ll always be there/My future love/ I’ll always be there for you.” It’s a mixture of so many things at once that it ends up being really pleasing to the ears and makes you want to get down. The rest of the album follows suit. Although three of the songs on the EP are unoriginal, (two are remixes and one is a brilliant cover of Acid House’s “The Bouncer”) with Xan Valley The Klaxons have gone beyond the boundaries of a normal EP with fantastic results.