ladytron was always a band toying with time, memories. their first single, playgirl, sounded like a song i knew and loved from long ago. it's almost like the song was found after being lost for decades. it has such familiarity.

i went through a big ladytron phase. jason introduced me to playgirl, and i bought a cd single or ep when i was in the UK in 2000. they toured a few years later, and i went two nights in a row. i just adored them. i remember meeting reuben and mira at luxx one night, and standing near mira during a fischerspooner show somewhere in chelsea.

they fit in with the electroclash fad of the early aughts, they had great pop songs. they had this chic two-front-women look and strong music to back it up, somehow making old synth sounds refreshing. i think daniel hunt is just talented, has a knack for dialing into it. they also had the variety - helen's droll cute voice juxtaposed against mira's quirky songs, the bulgarian spoken word just coloring everything so intriguingly.

and some type of darkness. i remember it being referred to as magic in a review once. it's true, there are some songs that seem to go deep into your soul. it started with minor-toned trips like "International Dateline" but then progressed, transcended on the next album. i didn't follow very much after the next one (i can't even remember a song from it)...

but today i've just been blown away by "the island," which opens with m83-esque grand string synths, gorgeousness. wistful, major chord progressions, some dreaminess. and helen's voice is different, not quite as disaffected, it's a nice change.

a hierarchy, always. i find myself avoiding Chapterhouse and Ride and opting for Ian Masters-era Pale Saints (even pre-Meriel). it's dumb, but the elitist in me feels like i get way more cred for this.

more personal resentment. my feelings for Pale Saints gradually changed with each progression. to me, the trio of Ian, Chris & Graeme was the real deal, pure - core Pale Saints. powerpop, so tight, knit together by Ian's often pained, and uniquely toned vocals. Meriel joined, and things were still OK - but she brought along a clearer production quality that i felt conflicted about. i much prefered the obscure, lonely tinniness of Comforts of Madness. with the new defined resolution she also brought a very traditionally good voice - again, conflict. most shoegaze singers hid their vocals, their puretoned, skinny and sometimes unstable vocals. who was this good singer barging her way into this dear low-fi trio? OK, i can't deny that "kinky love" is blissful. what a great intro to Meriel (via 120 for me, interestingly). oh lord and then i discovered who she really was... Miki's ex-friend and the original Lush singer?! the subject of "Etheriel"?!

well i got over any reservations because whatever, Ian was still there. "Throwing Back the Apple" is still quintessentially Pale Saints in my book.

and then, horror of horrors... Ian left the band... and was replaced by this random girl from the Heartthrobs?! How dare they keep the band name. This was no longer my Pale Saints. They were boringly mellow and tame. I saw them play live (Meriel kindly snuck Sheila & I into the 21+ venue) and this Heartthrobs girl actually sang Sight of You!!!! I was livid. it was so wrong! i wound up offloading that CD at some point, i couldn't bear having it.

fortunately. i was able to keep up with Ian a bit - the weird stuff he did with Warren Defever which i love, along with Spoonfed Hybrid and Oneironaut.