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| Ladytron |
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 "Love 'em or hate 'em, there definitely ain't
no one like 'em. Ladytron is a perfectly named group, as its music consists
primarily of girls singing -- there's the lady -- and weird robotic
synth-derived sounds -- the tron. The name comes from a song off Roxy
Music's first album, which came out in 1972, and Ladytron's dance-pop
art-primitivism touches on numerous musical points between then and now,
including Kraftwerk, Devo, Suicide, Gary Numan,
New Order, Man or Astro-man?, and their synth-trash
contemporaries, Chicks on Speed, all of it delivered with the self-mocking
Eurotrash glamminess pioneered by the Roxies and David Bowie. If you want
guitars, you're looking in the wrong place. If you want ironic disco-pop,
Ladytron is just your ticket. The group formed in Liverpool in 1998 around keyboardists and programmers Daniel Hunt and Reuben Wu and singer Mira Aroyo; Ladytron's second vocalist, Helena Marnie joined soon after and the group released their "He Took Her to a Movie" in 1999. The next year they issued their homage to Human League, Open Your Heart ...
-- Jesse Ashlock, epitonic.com, 06/02
  ¼ 2001:
604 Musicfolio picks: Discotraxx, Playgirl, He Took her to a Movie, Ladybird. "Ladytron are a real oddity of a band, made up of two Liverpool DJ's and a couple of disaffected, enigmatic chanteuses dressed in black retro-chic. The electro-pop produced by this quartet is truly intriguing, full of harsh, ominous industrial sounds backed up with vocals of blank, emotionless austerity. Stylistically it owes more than a passing debt to the sound of Kraftwerk, and at times is just a little too kitsch for its own good. Taken as a whole, however, 604 amounts to a gloriously inspired vision of the future, a world where the thrills of glamour are offset by a deadening sense of alienation. "
-- Andrew Lynch, entertainment.ie, 04/01
 2002:
Light & Magic "Ladytron will probably have to tolerate being saddled with the 'eighties' retro tag for as long as they exist (hopefully they will exist for a very long time) but to see them as just some sort of nostalgia band is to do them a great disservice. Apart from the fact that they write excellent pop songs, they have struck on as sound as unique as, say, Stereolab with their astute use of clever electronics, passionless and unique vocal sound and lyrics that help construct their individual futuristic landscape. They plunder the electronic heritage with a magpie-like selection of shiny objects, everything from Visage to Moroder and beyond, then add their individual touches and make the contributions of yesterday sound very new, very now and also very tomorrow. Seventeen is an infectious and great single but it's only the start. This album sparkles with pop hits, crazy roboticism (Cracked LCD) and the totally luscious (The Reason Why) and there's so much more. Listen to with their first album '604' for extended enjoyment. If you love electronica, this will be for you. "
-- W. Davidson, amazon customer review, 02/03
 ¾ 2005:
Witching Hour
Tracklisting: 01.High Rise 02.Destroy Everything You Touch 03.International Dateline 04.AmTV 05.Sugar 06.Soft Power 07.CMYK 08.Fighting In Built Up Areas 09.The Last One Standing 10.Weekend 11.Beauty*2 12.White Light Generator 13.All The Way "They’ve been likened to an East German, Heroin addicted Britney Spears set to Synths. The Electropop Ladytron grabbed our attention back in 2001 with their fusion of Vintage Synth and Retro pop, and if this album sampler is anything to go by, are set to return to their My Bloody Valentine/Joy Division form with their August release of ‘The Witching Hour’. Icy new single Sugar, as singer Mura Aroyo describes, is “an energetic nursery rhyme”, enorporating an edge of recent Primal Scream. Retro track Destroy echo’s sounds of The Fall, with clipped, sharp vocals flowing over a dirty 80’s synth sound. International Dateline and All The Way are other gems to look forward to when we are treated to their indie/electro amalgamation release in August. Keen to keep their cult following of electroheads, Aroyo is keen to point out that in fact, “all the guitars are actually synth” – but, whatever, it sounds fabulous."
-- Victoria Goldsmith, gigwise.com
½ 2008:
Velocifero
Tracklisting: 1. Black Cat 2. Ghosts 3. I’m Not Scared 4. Runaway 5. Season of Illusions 6. Burning Up 7. Kletva 8. They Gave You a Heart They Gave You a Name 9. Predict the Day 10. The Lovers 11. Deep Blue 12. Tomorrow 13. Versus "On 'Velocifero', the band’s fourth full-length studio album, rough but solid beats pound and Mira Aroyo’s edgy monotone vocal delivery while warring with the soft side, Helen Marnie’s sweet voice offers a cool contrast. With the help of notable producers like Vicarious Bliss and Alessandro Cortini (Nine Inch Nails), Ladytron show that futuristic does not have to imagine 50 years down the road in some desolate world. Ladytron offer unexpected treats with Black Cat and Kletva, where Aroyo delivers Bulgarian lyrics in a steady but mesmerizing robotic monotone over swirling synthesizer melodies. The band shows off a harder sound, especially on Black Cat, that dares you to cross Aroyo. Marnie, meanwhile, takes control with her smooth and sweet vocals, flying over the pounding beats of Predict The Day and the heavily thumping bass on tracks like Runaway and Ghosts while still giving it a light, sugary coating. The duo’s vocals join on They Gave You A Heart, They Gave You A Name, with Aroyo backing Marnie up. Since their inception in 2001, Ladytron have quickly garnered attention and praise from critics and fans alike, due in large part to their relentless touring worldwide. Ladytron confidently show off why they are so hotly tipped on 'Velocifero' as they manage to deliver solid songs that still sound unique and original. On 'Velocifero', Ladytron layer lush electronics and instrumentation that jumps out at you with its depth and tone. "
-- Corinne, pluginmusic.com
2011:
Gravity the Seducer Tracklisting: 01 White Elephant 02 Mirage 03 White Gold 04 Ace of Hz 05 Ritual 06 Moon Palace 07 Altitude Blues 08 Ambulances 09 Melting Ice 10 Transparent Days 11 90 Degrees 12 Aces High "'Gravity The Seducer', the band’s fifth full-length and first new album in more than three years, is more atmospheric and wistful than 2008’s 'Velocifero', but stays well within Ladytron’s firmly established framework of chilly but hooky baroque-pop. Given that the catchiest song here, Ace Of Hz, was first released on last year’s career-retrospective Best Of 00-10, the lack of a propulsive single to match earlier gems like Destroy Everything You Touch and Sugar, as well as an overabundance of instrumentals, suggests a band that’s spinning its wheels. Still, while Gravity is a bit cold to the touch, that wintry feel is also a big part of Ladytron’s charm. The group’s love songs have always embraced metaphors suggesting a lingering fear of the inability to connect emotionally, an android-like anxiety that pops up again repeatedly on Gravity, especially on the elegantly beautiful Mirage and Melting Ice.
-- Christopher Bahn, A.V Club, 9/11
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