Scanners

Violence Is Golden

[3/5] Back in the ’80s, there was a movie called Scanners about a group of people who could read folks’ minds, enter them and then mentally attack those people’s brains until their heads exploded. Though this British death-disco troupe only sound like they’re from that time period, they’re capable of triggering similar reactions-in a good way, of course. Frontwoman Sarah Daly strikes a sinful balance between the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde and Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O with an arresting combination of haunting vocals, feline wiliness and innate rock smarts. She and her bandmates excel mostly when throwing caution-and their leanings toward babbling synth-pop-to the wind, letting uninhibited rockers like “Raw” and “Air 164” propel their attack instead. For now, such inconsistencies slow Scanners’ momentum slightly, but their mind-reading skills show promise. Either that, or they’re just really good at giving us what we want. (DIM MAK) Tristan Staddon