DANCING BY THE BOOK

“BOOK OF LOVE.” Sire. Still think synth-pop is only good for dancing and critical carping? This debut album may change your mind. OK, it is just dandy for dancing, its basic and bubbly electronics practically pulling you off the couch. And some critics could even eye it as another victim for barbs--at first listening this Connecticut/New York City quartet may sound like little more than a low-key Animotion or Berlin. But closer attention will show that small treats abound here, among them the breathy preamble of the dance-club hit “Boy,” a smashingly lovely chorus in the art-school tribute “Modigliani (Lost in Your Eyes)” and the diffused light of two pace-slowers, “Happy Day” and “White Lies.” The lyrics go from playful to pretentious to poetic, and singer Susan Ottaviano’s voice has delightfully ironic echoes of the Waitresses, the Tom Tom Club and Laurie Anderson.