|
 |
| |
| |
|
|
|
| A quirky and bleepy hard-to-pigeonhole album. To its credit. |
| |
Before I start, I must get something off my chest. “Bugz in the Attic” is an awful name for a band. Period. No ironic excuses. It's just stupid. I feel that the most important next tactical move for this band is to simply change its chronic label. For the love of all that is sacred. Fortunately the music is pretty successful, by and large. But onto that shortly.
The band (as they shall henceforth be called) is a collective of nine musicians producing a curious mixture of soul and funk, infused with an electronic edge and an honest passion for the better musical aspects of the 70s and 80s.
The band's musical style is impressively varied but also impressively consistent given the number of individuals contributing to this project. Only every now and then does the formula veer into the kind of tackiness particularly consonant with the 80s sound (such as in 'Consequences'). Back in the Doghouse has a strong undercurrent of sparkling synthesised groove, which is tempered with a serious lack of shame in pulling out old hackneyed (and never satisfying) musical stops with aplomb, such as the terrible repeated vocal stutter of 'Don't Stop The Music'. And even then such troughs are shaken up by the energised no-nonsense rhythms of tracks like 'Sounds Like...' and 'Once Twice'.
Production sways between rolling breaks, four-on-the-floor and shuffles, rarely stopping in one spot for long. Its unusual electronic quirkiness and deliberate avoidance of mainstream cliches is quite refreshing. Although vocalists form the other half of Back in the Doghouse, they often take a backseat to the driving rhythms, or instead form part of the musical texture as another instrument, such as the choir-section of 'Inna Row's Latin workout. And, apart from the versatile Bembe Segue who seamlessly raps and sings her way through many of the album's better tracks, the vocalists are by and large nothing too ear-arresting. But they certainly don't jar.
If you like some mainstream dance with a progressive edge, get this. |
| |
| Stuart Reeves - 8/10 |
|
Be the first to comment on this review. |
|
| |
| Reviews | News | Talk | Features | Archive | Myspace | Contact | Voices |
| All original content is copyright of TinyVoices.co.uk 2003 to 2007 |
| |
|
|
|
 |
|
