Shedding some light on her fast and loud past, Annie Hart gets palpably excited when hardcore icons Minor Threat surface in conversation. Based on her work with New York City's Au Revoir Simone, the keyboardist-singer doesn't seem like she'd know Dischord Records from Needlepoint Monthly. But, weirdly enough, she's often fantasized about turning Minor Threat's "Out of Step" into the kind of synth-pop confection that's made Au Revoir Simone the easy-listening choice of today's discerning hipster.

"Oh man, that's my dream," she practically squeals, on the line from her home in the Greenpoint neighbourhood of NYC. "Did you read that somewhere, that I said that? I thought the only person I've ever told that is our tour manager because he has a Minor Threat tattoo. I really wanna do that, but unfortunately none of the other girls are Minor Threat fans. That's okay, though, because we're working on a Bee Gees cover right now."

For the curious, Hart and fellow keyboardist-singers Heather D'Angelo and Erika Forster are Au Revoir Simone izing the brothers Gibb's smash hit "Tragedy". What's really got them thrilling the Pitchfork set, however, is the way they channel the Pretty in Pink '80s on their recently released sophomore disc, The Bird of Music. Presenting themselves as vintage-synth fetishists, band members prove themselves equally obsessed with lo-fi new wave, indie-flavoured electronica, and Carpenters-brand pop. It's insanely infectious stuff. The almost-orchestral "The Lucky One" unfolds like a summer-camp version of the Polyphonic Spree, "Dark Halls" updates "I'll Stop the World" for the riot-nerrrd set, and "A Violent Yet Flammable World" sounds every bit as synthtastically '80s as the collected works of Yaz.

As much as Au Revoir Simone incorporates live drums, French horns, and vibraphones into the mix on The Bird of Music, retro synths remain the engine that drives the band, making it sound a little like a more organic version of Ladytron.

"We started out playing little Casios and Yamahas that you get at garage sales," Hart says. "Erika was also playing in my husband's band Dirty on Purpose at the time, though, and she had a Juno-106, which was made by Roland and came out in the '80s. It sounded so great that we all began getting good equipment from there."

Hart acknowledges that, having conquered New York, Au Revoir Simone which takes its name from a line in Pee-wee Herman's Pee-wee's Big Adventure is currently being embraced by scenesters around the country. What amuses her about that is that, when she relocated to the NYC indie-rock mecca that is Williamsburg a few years back, she was wasn't exactly one of the cool kids.

"When I moved, it was because my boyfriend who's now my husband was living here," she remembers. "I was like, 'Oh no not that stop on the L train.' I hated walking down Bedford Avenue here and seeing how everyone was dressed so great. I'd go to parties and go 'Hi!!! My name's Annie Hart!!!' And no one would talk to me because they were so snotty. But maybe that was me being judgmental, because everything is fine now that I'm established in the community. And so many great bands are here, and they are really sweet."

Almost as sweet, evidently, as the idea of Au Revoir Simone slinking its way through "Out of Step".

Au Revoir Simone plays the Media Club on Wednesday (August 22).