Pirouette

The buzzing New York band (lead vocalist Cole Haden, drummer Ruben Radlauer, guitarist Jack Wetmore and bassist Aaron Shapiro) formed in 2016, but broke through with their 2023 full-length debut, <i>Dogsbody</i>—a blast of haunted, hedonistic noise-rock that embellished the cool chaos of early aughts dance-punk with musical-theatre melodrama. On its follow-up, <i>Pirouette</i>, Model/Actriz lean all the way in on those rococo tendencies and embrace their inner prima donnas without losing their grit. “Living in America, while trapped in the body of an operatic diva,” Haden laments in a campy stage whisper on “Diva” between tales of one-night stands in far-flung European locales. The pendulum swings wildly between abandon and control, but there’s a gonzo sensuality that ties it all together. Hence, an eerie acoustic ballad about being jealous of hummingbirds (“Acid Rain”) followed by a throbbing dance-punk jam (“Departures”) that relishes in the beauty of three-syllable words—parasol, silhouette, matinee, vagabond.