Take the Mickey

Electro-pop has been zombified so badly over the past few years, it’s no wonder that futurism now sounds totally quaint. The Denver trio Take the Mickey doesn’t try to reinvent the CPU with its new full-length, Dinosaurs Now and Machines Later — but the band does make a valiant attempt to freshen up the formula. And it mostly succeeds: Tapping into the satirical, intermittently guitar-heavy prankishness of Devo, not to mention a deliberately goofy synth sound that feels outdated even by retro standards, DNAML feels raw and playful rather than slick and hip. Add frontman Solomon Tomer’s hiccupy, smart-ass vocals, and Take the Mickey turns out to be a true rarity in electro-pop: a group of real nerds with a chip on their shoulders. Silicon, of course.