The Prairie Cartel’s full-length debut album Where Did All My People Go takes the listener on a 78-minute auditory roller coaster ride of fast-paced dance punk and slower synth-infused rock compositions. If you survive the ride, you will want to do it all over again.

According to the Prairie Cartel, the band began as a way to pass the time during Chicago’s lengthy and punishing winters. And what better way to heat things up than to fully indulge one’s self in making an excellent synth-filled electro-rock album with a few friends? Formed in 2005, the Prairie Cartel is made up of Chicago rock scene veterans Scott Lucas (Local H), Blake Smith and Mike Willison (both of Caviar/Fig Dish).

Where Did All My People Go is packed full of electronic bells and whistles, heavy driving bass lines, and fuzzed-out, distortion rock guitars. Taking full advantage of having two singers, Where Did All My People Go contains vocals that range from piercing screams (courtesy of Lucas) to what can only be described as “sultry sleaze” (courtesy of Smith).

While “Keep Everybody Warm” is technically the first song on Where Did All My People Go, the second track “Suitcase Pimp” kicks the album off with an explosion of synths, samples and throbbing guitar and bass lines. Lucas summons electro-rocker Peaches with such sensual lyrics as “If I lick it, will you like it?” The track comes to a climax with the entrance of an addictive guitar solo looping throughout while Lucas screams “I will enhance you; I will protect you; and I will sex you up!”

“Cracktown” is Prairie Cartel’s ode to Chicago’s famed Uptown neighborhood with name checks to Wilson and Kenmore Avenues among others. The song starts off much like the opening to the 1980s show Knight Rider. The only thing missing is Kit and the Hoff.

A perfect example of the sultry sleaze vocal styling occurs when Blake Smith takes over the reigns on “Beautiful Shadow.” Smith croons the lyrics “Every woman has a sinister double, everybody’s got a love they can’t save” while synths bleep and pop in the background.

“Homicide,” originally by English punk band 999, is an inspired cover, dripping with synths and thumping bass lines as Lucas repeatedly screams “I believe in Homicide.” It’s enough to make the listener a believer, too.

Contender for best song on the album, “Jump Like Chemicals” starts with a simple chord progression over a constant kick drum beat that feels oddly familiar. Lucas enters with his most soulful and honest vocals on the album yet.

Where Did All My People Go is rounded out by “The Glow is Gone,” a groovy dance rock number with sprinkles of synths. The final track is the perfect ending; it is a mash-up of every mood presented thus far with Lucas and Smith trading vocals back and forth, uttering the lyric “The glow is all gone and we don’t want to go home.” By the end of the song you’ll feel the same way.

Slower songs such as the single “No Light Escapes Here” and the feedback-heavy “Lost All Track of Time” interrupt the natural flow of an album that contains mostly fast-paced dance rock songs. Despite that minor complication, the Prairie Cartel’s debut is a competent and stellar output that is destined for repeat play.