With the Killers ditching their stylized dance rock for Springsteen bar shtick, thank goodness for Action Action, synthed-out gangbusters from New York who continue to bust classic post-punk grooves. Boasting veteran producer William Wittman (Cyndi Lauper, the Fixx), the group’s sophomore effort, An Army of Shapes Between Wars, brazenly fuses luminous new-wave swirls and guitar-addled melodies, recalling the Cure, Depeche Mode, and even Nirvana. At the same time, such tracks as “Paper Cliché” and “The Other 90% of the Iceberg” reveal a group freeing itself from those very influences.

This article appears in Dec 13-19, 2006.