To my mind, if a band is going to put out a covers album, it needs to have some reason for existing beyond the original recordings. A different take on the songs, a different sound… something to differentiate the covers from the originals. Joy Electric certainly does that on this covers album, featuring a bunch of modern hit songs. From Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida” to Paramore’s “Decode” to Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know,” Joy Electric bring their synth-driven sound to bear. It’s an odd combination, clearly aiming for the ’80s sound of Duran Duran and Erasure, but falling very far short of that.

In fact, listening to Favourites At Play, I couldn’t help but think of the scene from Friends where Ross forces his mates to listen to the keyboard opus he has been working on in his bedroom. My reaction is similar to theirs: this is music which probably should have stayed in the bedroom.