It's hard to think of a better way to revive
Duophonic Super 45s
, the label run by
Stereolab
's
Tim Gane
and
Laetitia Sadier
and manager
Martin Pike
, than new music from the artists who released music for the imprint back in the day. Along with providing an outlet for
's limited-edition releases, the label also cultivated many acts who dug into the band's niche of experimental electronic pop in more specific ways. One of those was
Dymaxion
, a New York-based post-rock group that, as their Buckminster Fuller-worshiping name suggested, brought a more playful and retro-futuristic take to that style than most of their contemporaries. The group's main sonic architect,
Jeremy Novak
, struck up a friendship with
Gane
that led to their collaboration as
Ghost Power
. The duo's self-titled debut album is a perfect continuation of the legacies of everyone involved. Fans of
's post-
projects will note that
is more light-hearted than his work with
Cavern of Anti-Matter
; kicking off with "Asteroid Witch," a bold and bubbling concoction of beats, synths, and sci-fi zaps and rattles that first appeared on a 2020 limited-edition 7", the album finds him and
Novak
mixing and matching sounds with gleeful abandon. "Lithic Fragment," with its comically booming tympani, brassy fanfares, and whooshing electronics, could be a collaboration between the
BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Spike Jones
, while "Inchwork" improbably combines the sardonically chugging guitars of
Chairs Missing
-era
Wire
with bristling beats and glockenspiel. On "Zome Primer," the duo mash up harpsichord-laden chamber pop and a slinky rhythm with results that approximate a lo-fi
DJ Shadow
track, while "Vertical Section"'s tightly interlocking keyboards evoke the
Ghost Box
roster as much as
's own work. However, each of
's tracks have enough drive and momentum to not seem overly quaint, whether it's the mod mystery of "Grimalkin" or "Opsimath," one of the moments when
's love of cartoonish sounds comes to the fore. "Astral Melancholy Suite," a 15-minute epic that spans what sounds like an army of evil toy robots to an eternal drift in the cosmos, shows off the breadth and depth of
's considerable skills, all of which make the album a real treat for fans of
's and
's other work. ~ Heather Phares