After years of playing in jazz and indie-rock bands, Panella and Weisenthal have completed the first third of the score, releasing Dark Side of the Cop's eponymous debut on Panella's Auger Down Records. On tunes like "Paradise Lost and Found" and "Flying Fists and Flashing Lights," Panella re-envisions the blockbuster soundtrack — and vintage Prince, much like Hot Chip — by layering cheap synths and drum machines over acoustic guitars for a sleepy, glitchy, quietly addictive kind of electroni-funk. Fellow Vermont native Tyler Gibbons serves as vocalist, delivering the stanzas in a sexy whisper. The lyrics occasionally drop allusions to the movie — mentioning Motown, freeway chaos, and the art world — but ultimately this is a story of unrequited love, full of clever imagery ("Feels like shooting blanks at a zombie/ He just won't go down") and melancholic phrases ("The scars that heal quickly are the ones on your face"). In the end, it's like Harold Faltermeyer remixed by Aphex Twin, with Bryan Ferry's nephew crooning along. Can't wait for the Bronson Pinchot song in installment two.
