From the opening infectious seconds, there is no doubt the design of this disc will inspired you to lose your inhibitions with minimal effort and encourage rhythmic like movement. Bag Raiders have crafted a solid danceable album perfectly suited for those towering speakers in the basement you might have been holding on to in case the neighborhood dropped by. Inspired by previous decades of synth induced groove, Bag Raiders spare no classic motif in order to deliver pure contagious new-disco pop songs. The self titled long player, their first, is an easy listen with an extremely gratifying sound and it makes one wonder about the details of the production. Perhaps it is necessary to look back in history and pay homage to the 80s dance pioneers whose studios were amuck with analogue synths and connective cables. The music created here could have conceivably been designed on an iPhone app. But there is something grand in the way this album is presented to the listener. Granted, the lyrical cliches are abundant; however, the arrangement of the beats, the build of polyphonic textures and the use of seemingly timeless synth sounds comes across as fresh and expressive. Bag Raiders is a fun album from start to finish.

‘Castles In The Air’ has everything you want in an opener for a dance record. The house beat keeps the looped piano motifs playing along nicely with plethora of synth pads meandering in and out. Though the track is an instrumental, you get the sense that the album is chalk full of opportunities for catchy choruses as evident in the following track ‘Sunlight’. ’Shooting Stars’ features a single synth lead that acts like a music virus infecting anyone within earshot and spreading like a disco pandemic. The first three tracks lay the foundation for the remainder as the album continues to flirt with house beats, funk induced frequencies and synth sugar all deliciously arranged for your consumption. The group from down under save their best for last, however, with a near epic anthem ‘Way Back Home’. Like many of the tracks on the album, great harmonious melodies are combined with layered synth sweetness and a disco-pop groove that is sure to get the crowd jumping. It would have been nice if the duo extended this last one to play twice as long in order to keep the vibe going.

Bag Raiders’ long player accomplishes what its design intended; A mid energy vibe upbeat and gratifying with a diverse range of new-disco-house-electro funk. Add the cross-fade option on your mp3 player and the Bag Raiders’ self titled effort plays like a club record seamlessly moving from track to track with modernized classic grooves and hook heavy choruses.