Dinosaur Feathers - Control (2014)

Brooklyn's Dinosaur Feathers look to Janet Jackson for spiritual guidance on their groove-laden third album ''Control.''. Insistent drum machines & lithe pulsing bass lines meet shimmering synths, coked-out horns & soulful vocals, dragging 1983 pop/R&B kicking & screaming into the new millennium. Master of ceremonies Greg Sullo hooked up with production gurus Naptimes to update (downdate?) & amplify what The New York TImes called ''[their] sinisterly effective pop melodies.'' Dinosaur Feathers first emerged from Brooklyn's sweaty DIY scene as an irrepressibly upbeat synthesis of indie rock & world music influences, replete with intricate soaring vocal harmonies. The group then charted a course from tropical leisure to nervy beach rock via substantial touring with acts like Built to Spill and Peter Bjorn & John. Most recently, Sullo committed to an extended stay in Oakland, where he found himself progressively drawn toward Motown soul & funky R&B - from Smokey to Chaka, Prince to Janet. His vocal performances here clearly reflect an affinity for such material, supported by a catalog of disparate secondary influences, from Scott Walker to Drake. Indebted to the grace & precision of songwriters like Harry Nilsson & Curtis Mayfield, these songs are the most direct & propulsive Sullo has committed to tape- err...digital bits. Lyrics deliver meditations on subjects at once intimate & divine, searching for meaning: ''Do you think it's true, what they say / We all will die alone? / But maybe that's the only way to pass into the Unknown.'' Even the most cosmically vexing elements prove eminently relatable - in the confessional, on the dance floor & in the bedroom. All things considered, ''Control'' offers up a rejoinder for those curious enough to ask, ''What have you done for me lately?''