It's impossible to review this London band's debut without acknowledging the recent suicide of frontman Charles Haddon, and yet The Golden Year deserves more than respectful platitudes. In the current climate, their mildly raved-up take on early-80s synth-pop is hardly unprecedented. But it's the tunes that count: epic but soulful and benefiting from Haddon's ability to cut through the glacially cool electronics with a raw, guileless vulnerability. "Jackson's Last Stand" and "Outside", in particular, achieve an exquisite balance between euphoria and melancholy.