Time travel is impossible, they said. Something about relativity and twin paradoxes, they said. But a 21 year old with a thing for hairspray has disproved the fundamental laws of physics. La Roux, a duo fronted by said Elly Jackson, succeed in ripping up the space-time continuum to land squarely in 1982.

The plinky bleeps, the plonky blips, the icy whooshes, the coffee tin beats are a perfect pastiche of OMD, The Human League and Vince Clarke-era Depeche Mode. In fact, if Jackson's piercing voice was more substantial, these could be long-lost recordings by the Clarke-Alison Moyet pairing Yazoo.

The only real musical concession to the last 27 years is the wooden Timbaland groove on 'Tigerlily' but even that's undermined by the song's menacing 'Thriller' style narration.

So what's the point? Why not just dust off those old flexi discs, dig out the 'Now That's What I Call Music Volume 1' cassette or download Heaven 17's 'Temptation'?

Truth is, behind La Roux's obsessive recreation of '80s synth-pop are damn-near-unforgettable tunes. 'In For The Kill', with its steely keyboard riff echoed by Jackson's reedy vocal is a remarkably self-assured album opener; the even bolder 'Bulletproof' ("Been there done that messed around/ I'm having fun don't put me down") has, quite appropriately, an indestructible chorus; and 'Quicksand' adds an idiosyncratic hint of vintage Annie Lennox to the parade of perfectly polished pop.

Although the shimmer fades ? 'Reflections Are Protection' is, at best, robotic; 'As If By Magic' even more comatose; and 'Cover My Eyes' is a big block of A-grade cheddar ? the retro appeal of La Roux's debut does not.

Music that sounds close on 30 years old shouldn't sound this good.