Are there any newer pure synth-pop acts out there?

I'm talking groups that sound like Depeche Mode, Camouflage, Red Flag, and Wolfsheim.

Are there any NEW acts doing this kind of stuff? I know the U.S. label Different Drum was doing stuff like this.

ever hear about the electro warz?

No...is that the group's name?

wierd...

I actually think this is a legit question. For almost the entire last decade, anytime someone asks this question in one form or another, all you get in response is people pointing to ironic, Of Montreal-esque bands that prefer to "comment" on this style than immerse themselves in it.

los updates. especially the first ep.

los updates are the best pop group in the world right now

http://www.melnyk.net/

How would you define "pure" synth-pop?

and practically all of the first wave idib roster

xp

sounds like erasure?

may be more pop than you're looking for, but i like belanova.

Modan Garu

I guess Junior Boys and The Knife have some of what you are looking for too.

And, well, Soviet, obviously, if an act that hasn't done much since 2002 could be considered "newer".

I guess you are aware of Anything Box? They have been around since 1990 so they aren't exactly very new anymore.

And while I'm at it, hyping Norwegian acts (like Modan Garu), I guess I should mention Tøyen Airport too. Still awaiting any actual CD releases from them though (apparently they been working on their debut album for a couple years now).

The link for the last act would be www.myspace.com/toyenairport, as I guess you may not be able to read my friend links there ;)

does the knife sound like depeche mode in your world?

this is a classic "two blokes and a keyboard" set up who have made a really good synth pop album recently :

http://www.microfilmmusic.com/

What do you mean by "newer"? Joy Electric continue to make some of the purest, most convincingly old-school synth-pop in Christendom. But they've been around since the mid '90s, so even though they're stylistically about 25 years behind the times, I'm not sure if they'd count.

Solvent may not be "new" , but it definitely feels like a development of this tradition.

Microfilm are a good call too, very much up this street.

What I meant by "pure synth-pop" were groups like DEPECHE MODE. The ones who don't use guitars at least 90% of the time but that really keep to a classic (verse, chorus, verse) kind of songwriting template. Groups who write songs that have clear vocal hooks. A song like "The Great Commandment" by Camouflage or "Another Minute" by Cause & Effect would be great examples of what I am looking for. There's gotta be new groups trying to do this.

btw many xposts but i do not find of montreal (their music, at least) ironic.

Carlos, how "new" are we talking here? Maybe you already know this and are asking for something newer, but there was a pretty big boom of this sort of stuff (synthpop and electro) from around 2000-2004. Do you know the acts from that period? One of the more famous ones would be, say, Ladytron.

The Knife?

Also, before I start any kind of lengthy answer, what era of Depeche Mode are you talking about? Are you looking for stuff that sounds like very early blocky synthy Depeche Mode, or stuff that sounds broader and deeper and more complex, like, say, Violator and the records after that?

Thanks guys!

Let's put it this way, my fave Depeche Mode album is Music For The Masses.

Yes, I know The Knife but I'm looking for stuff that is a little less "cryptic" sounding if that makes ANY sense...haha

In terms of Ladytron, I heard a version of their single "Destroy Everything You Touch" that captured the feel of late 80's synth-pop.

Yes, I know The Knife but I'm looking for stuff that is a little less "cryptic" sounding if that makes ANY sense...haha

Soviet is what you are looking for:
www.myspace.com/sovietboy

Soviet is totally up my alley! Thanks for that one :)

Awesome -- I was totally going to recommend "Destroy Everything You Touch!" Ladytron in general are pretty good: much like Depeche Mode, they started off thinner and blockier (try songs like "Discotraxx" or "He Took Her to a Movie") and then got bigger and grander and brought more guitars in.

They're not big favorites of mine, but you might also enjoy the group Client.

I'd also recommend an album called Chelsea 27099 by a group called Vitesse -- it's a little bit more bedroomy / lo-fi / indie, nowhere near big and slick, but it has some of this feel and is pretty good . . .

Soviet is a good recommendation as well.

Also, depending on how much you like the dance-music side of this stuff, there was a ton of electro music 4-5 years ago that bordered really heavily on synthpop. A lot of the acts might be more club-oriented than you're looking for, but some of the more poppy ones should suit you -- like Fischerspooner (try the song "Emerge"), or some others (David Caretta, Northern Lite, Alpinestars).

There are loads more things I'm just not remembering very well right now -- don't have a ton of time, and a lot of them are from a few years ago -- but I'll post them as they occur to me.

Thanks for the tips Nabisco! I will check all the ones I don't already know out.

We have an entire scene of this in Norway. Modan Garu and Tøyen Airport are kind of among the more "underground" names. But there are also more famous acts like Annie, Bertine Zetliz and Margaret Berger doing kinda the same thing - a bit more dance-leaning, but dance in a song-oriented early 80s way (think Italo Disco etc.) rather than in the typical 90s way.