Ghetto Ways, the new single from Scissors For Lefty, is a weighty slice of industrial synth pop from the San Francisco-based quartet who are currently on tour across the UK, supporting the Fiery Furnaces and providing entertainment at a Club NME near you.
The group comprises two sets of brothers, Peter and James Krimmel and Robby and Bryan Garza, who between them provide two basses, three guitars, piano, drums and 'vox' - the latter presumably referring to vocals rather than amps, although with the dense layering and slick production, it could well be either, a pleasing cacophony in the best tradition of early Depeche Mode before they discovered American stadiums. Then on the B-sides, particularly Marsha, they come over all Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, sharply melodic beneath Garza B's vocals.
Ghetto Ways is the real killer of a track. Smoldering beneath synth riffs that OMD would be proud of and vocals that owe a debt to Krautrock, it belongs in a dark 1984 disco before bands like Guns 'n' Roses came along and ruined all the fun. I'd follow them into their secret ghetto any day.
