Album: Shriekback, Life in the Loading Bay (Malicious Damage)

"I've seen the future," Leonard Cohen once sang, "and it is murder". The comeback album by 1980s electro-rockers Shriekback sounds like Len waking up in that future and deciding to go down the disco.

Along with the Shamen, the core duo of Barry Andrews (ex-XTC) and Dave Allen (Gang of Four) made a seamless transition from alt-rock into acidic dance, while remaining ghosts in the machine rather than inane party cheerleaders. Their sly wit makes more sense in 2010 than it has any right to.