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Whether they like it or not, Brooklyn's Mothxr are most likely going to be known as the band fronted by former Gossip Girl actor Penn Badgley. But that's not to say there isn't a lot to like about the band's atmospherically sultry, '80s new wave and R&B-inflected debut, Centerfold. Produced by the band's bassist, Jimmy Giannopoulos (who seems to have a talent for actor-led bands, as he also plays with the Zoe Kravitz-fronted LolaWolf), Centerfold is a slow-burn, slightly psychedelic production born out of the group's initial eight-day recording session in a rented house in Los Angeles. Also coloring Mothxr's chilled-out slow jams are guitarist Simon Oscroft and keyboardist Darren Will. As a singer, Badgley proved he had a knack for yearning falsetto when he played doomed singer/songwriter Jeff Buckley in the 2012 biopic Greetings from Tim Buckley. On Centerfold, he takes a similar approach, all breathy low-end come-ons one minute, and soaring loverman falsetto the next. The result is surprisingly effective and brings to mind '80s Prince as much as it does more contemporary acts like MGMT. Cuts like the hazy "Impossible" and the fluorescent "Underground" have a half-lidded sensuality that sounds something along the lines of France's Air scoring an episode of Miami Vice. Others, like the buoyant "Stranger" and drowsily funky "Easy," while no less steamy, evince more light-hearted club-ready tropicality. Throw in the cheeky album cover featuring what looks like an '80s catalog model donning a purple, pink, and green windbreaker and listening to an old-school Walkman and one gets the sense that Mothxr's retro cocktail of synthesizers and soul contains at least a few drops of knowing irony. Ultimately, on Centerfold, Badgley and his bandmates stay camera cool, never flashing a smile, but if you listen closely, you might just hear them winking at you. ~ Matt Collar
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