If nothing else, New York's The Ropes win the "Best Song Title of the Year"-award with the delightlfully named "Sadness is the Rich Man's Drug", the lead track from their new EP of the same name.
The band mine a vein similar to the sort of dark new wave music that Client, Dubstar, and Ladytron once produced. And, like those worthy influences, the band do not descend into the trappings of goth, or something. The cuts are closer to being the work of an evil Human League than The Sisters of Mercy, for example.
If anyone out there besides me remembers the superb Nettwerk band Single Gun Theory and their first 2 or 3 records, you might get my meaning when I say that The Ropes sound like those guys without the samples. Second track "Maiden Claiming" is pure Mute Records moodiness of the best kind while "I Am The Last Ghetto" is the weird child of Saint Etienne and The Long Blondes (at least the way they sounded on their second album). It's propulsive and futuristic in a refreshingly old fashioned way.
Fans of any of the bands I've mentioned here would be wise to get on board with The Ropes. You can find out more about the band on their official Facebook page or via the Bandcamp link above.