As modern music's leading distiller of depression in danceable form, Joy Division makes for a hard act to imitate. It's particularly difficult to capture the dual nature of the band's late frontman, Ian Curtis, whose choppy choreography thinly disguised the crippling pain that ultimately led to his suicide. However, Unknown Pleasures, named for a Joy Division album and featuring members of Season to Risk and Dirtnap, pulls it off to an astonishing degree. The covers sound as good or -- blasphemy! -- better than the originals, and Steve Tulipana nails Curtis' glum vocals and tortured presence.
