Telepathe - Dance Mother

If 2009's pop landscape was dominated by the gauche independent womanhood of Lady Gaga, then the Telepathe girls were her creepy little sisters, practicing Wicca spells in their bedrooms and watching the adult world beyond their windows with cold and jealous eyes. Full of spooky incantations (as on 'Devil's Trident') and confused sexual awakenings ('Drugged'), Dance Mother also throngs with some great high-concept, high-gloss pop. Brooklyn duo Busy Gangnes and Melissa Livaudis play their parts perfectly, never letting affairs degenerate into sub-Alisha's Attic kooky girl naffness, while TV on the Radio's David Sitek makes a typically skilled job of it as producer.

The martial drums and sour guitar of 'In Your Line' and skeletal Electro bounce of 'Lights Go Down' are perfect soundtracks for stalking the object of your affections round the edge of the dance floor. Meanwhile, the none-more-80s synthtopia of 'So Fine' is like meeting the physical embodiment of Bret Eastern Ellis' Less Than Zero, all spoilt girl pout and mysterious cigarette burns.

'Your greatest joy would be to destroy me… Go ahead… God is watching' the girls trill on the soaring 'Michael' and being stalked never sounded so genuinely thrilling.

Best Tracks: 'Drugged', 'So Fine', 'Devil's Trident'

Richard Morris