Hot Lights opens with a jarring and somehow symphonic bang. It is complete with an entire strings section and horns, a deep, grimy back beat, and a sky-scraping voice anxiously vociferating lyrics to its listener. The new EP starts off with “Because I Know”, a song that lets the audience know what Viper Creek Club is all about.

Though the group is heavily influenced by hip-hop, it seems much less apparent on their forthcoming 6-song EP than it has in their previous albums, Letters and Viperlust. Rather than resonating earthy beats and gritty rhymes, Hot Lights takes inspiration from electro-indie superstars like Phantogram and Justice, while vocals by Seattleite Mat Wisner echo a post-scene masters like Taking Back Sunday and more currently, 3OH!3.

Based around a city’s party scene most of the tracks on Hot Lights are upbeat and dancy; however, it closes on a rather somber note with “In The Living Room.” This song is the one that speaks to me most, perhaps because it gives listeners a taste of Wisner’s true artistic abilities; as opposed to featuring more repeating, thumping beats and overarching clichés, this song reveals Viper Creek Club’s atrophied love life and ambivalence toward what the future holds. Ending the EP on this note is perhaps one of the best choices Viper Creek Club made during production of this project. It shows us that the duo has much more talent than shirts-off-slam-drunk-party boys, and that in fact there is a deeper meaning to the music they make; perhaps more importantly, there is a greater artistic ability.

Overall, Viper Creek Club’s electro-pop, funky-disco-dance-your-ass-off sound is cohesive throughout the album, with the voice samples exceptionally well (“Count It Out”), and purposely ambiguous yet simple lyrics like “This is what is good/ Your skin on mine in the living room” will abide with listeners and keep them looking out for Viper Creek Club. Hot Lights drops February 14th. Buy it and dance, dance some more, mellow out in the end and then start it again.