Paul Luckey receives signals from other planets. That’s the only explanation for the extraterrestrial dance music on his new album. “Open up your imagination,” sings Luckey on the title track as keyboards drip synthetic ice cubes; the beats pound sensually, swirling between speakers, evoking images of spiritual transcendence and sex. Many have attempted resurrecting – or, worse yet, reinventing – the computerized European disco of early ‘80s new wave iconoclasts like Visage and Yello and failed with embarrassing results. That’s not the case here. For an out-of-body experience, listen to “Oh My Goddess” on headphones. It’ll put you in a trance, synthesizers swishing across an insistent club beat as Luckey’s lovelorn vocals drift in and out of the mix. Unlike other modern dance records, there are actual songs on this LP, original new wave tunes given a 21st century makeover. It reaches to the past while going back to the future.
4 1/2 STARS  Kyrby Raine - shotgun reviews
 

WHISPERIN & HOLLERIN - UK
The last time I went to a rave on a date me head nearly caved in from the monotonous fire-alarm ear shelling of the so-called music. It was a wretched experience. Expecting something more along the lines of the Stone Roses or the Hollow Men, I was instead tortured by wordless audio dissonance.

It was with this fear that I cautiously spun Paul Luckey's "Goddess" CD (http://www.paulluckey.com). Thankfully, all of my frightened nerves were calmed by the opening cut, "Wonderland." Luckey has a magnificent voice, kind of a twilight croon; sounding very early '80s English, he has a deep 3 a.m. delivery, half-dazed yet somewhat romantic. I suppose Bryan Ferry would be an accurate comparison as he seems to aim for that New Romantic air. That Luckey even sings lifts the record above its techno-pop peers.

"Wonderland" is keyboard heaven, conjuring druggy clouds of erotic passion. Much of the album similarly combines old and new aesthetics, the toe-tapping and accessible vocal melodies of the '80s with the buzzed-out beats of ecstasy clubs. It should be huge on the dance floors but happily it's just as effective in the bedroom.
8/10 Adam Harrington