Empire of the Sun VS Adam and the Ants

In the tradition of recent electro duos 'borrowing' material from artists of the past, I bring you the most recent discovery. And I think a few people have already figured this one out, but I just realized this connection today, and my world was once again rocked. I was searching through the popular media site, Amazon.com, downloading mp3s from disco great, Sylvester James (check out the hit Down, Down, Down), when I came across this picture of the Adam and the Ants album 'Kings of the Wild Frontier.'
Now Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore are tremendous musicians and all around amazing artists. Both of their other projects (Sleepy Jackson and PNAU) are favorites of mine, but is it just me or did they pretty much bite the image and the matching thematic style of the tunes from Adam Ant? At first I was confused by this picture, but then I realized that Steel took the facepaint and feathers, while Littlemore took the jacket. One cannot deny that the duo MUST have seen this album cover right? Kings of the Wild Frontier! That could be the name of an Empire of the Sun song! So I had a listen to the Adam and the Ants album, and while distinctly more post-punk and new-wave in style, there is some of the indie dance essence of Adam Ants music that Empire managed to capture, while managing to add a more electric and worldly futurism to their message. Again, I can't say how much I love Empire of the Sun, and its not like they went off and ripped a bunch of samples from Adam, but this kind of stuff always makes me wonder what kind of truly original work is being developed out there, or has all art already been realized in some obscure form or another?

Anyway, you be the judge. Ripoff or inspiration to us all? Coincidentally enough, the timing of this post coincides with Luke Steele's alarming announcement that bandmate Littlemore "disappeared about five months ago and I haven't really heard from him." Yeah crazy huh! Apparently Littlemore has not been in contact at all and Steele has been doing all the work, even preparing for a stateside tour. Well I hope they come here so I can see them play live. Or hear Luke Steele sing by himself maybe!

Adam and the Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier