Ladytron’s 2001 debut album, building on a string of strong singles and EPs, was an equally striking full length statement, the UK quartet making one of the strongest cases for the wave of worldwide acts reinterpreting and updating synth-pop aesthetics for a new generation and millennium. It wasn’t simply recreation, as nods to hip-hop beats and more made clear, but with the cold, tense charge of songs like “Discotraxx,” “Playgirl” and “He Took Her To A Movie,” in combination with their stark aesthetic presentation, Ladytron simply did the business.

– Ned Raggett