By Mick Cote, Staff Contributor
At first, Chromeo’s new album’s first lyrics sound about right; “You’re a hot mess,” repeats a digitized, dirty-sounding woman.
If you’re looking for any kind of 1980s throwback, or a feel-good background noise while you get ready to hit the scene, it could be understood why Chromeo’s third album is up your alley.
The album Business Casual is following in the footsteps of Chromeo’s past work: Fancy Footwork and She’s in Control*. And it sounds just about the same.
It’s full of synths, mismatched vocals and poppy DJ tricks, but it’s a little washed out. The guys know how to make a catchy and groovy tune, but the tracks lose themselves in a sea of repetition.
P-Thugg and Dave 1, the minds behind Chromeo, are sticking to what worked the first time around. Sure, it’s “different,” but with bands the likes of Dragonette reformatting Canadian electronica and synth-pop, Chromeo are lacking in shine-factor.
One could easily merge tracks one through five and make it one, long, synthetic debacle. The songs are relatively up-tempo, shallow, and confusing. The electricity required to perform this album impedes on the rawness and the other experimental possibilities audiences could have anticipated.
Through all the pops and mixes, the musical competence is noticeable. “When the Night Falls,” the album’s sixth track, stands alone as a noticeably thought-out recollection of 1980s sensual dance tracks. Solange’s voice brings a much-needed break to Dave 1’s unceasing flatlines. “The Right Type,” a slight reminder of Empire of the Sun’s spacey synthetics, offers a slight relief and amps up the album’s end with a catchy chorus.
Overall, Business Casual could be kept in an iTunes library and added to playlists of the same genre to give your dance floor a boost. The problem is not the album’s energy, but it’s lack grandeur and differentiation between tracks.
They can sing and synth all they want, they can sing in French, add a girl here and there, but in the end, Chromeo could have released their second album twice.
On that note: Thank you for not using Auto-Tune.
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