With everyone from Justice to Kavinski aping the electro-funk idealized 80′s sound it’s time for it’s true masters to descend and retake the throne. That’s right, Chromeo are back, with all their trademark vocoder and funky smoothness. Dave 1 and P-Thugg have crafted an album that, dare I say exceeds their debut. Everything from the saxophone riffs to the transcendent keyboard work “Fancy Footwork” is a lesson in getting down, the ultra funky way.
Right off the bat Chromeo explode with the pompousness of a rap group telling stories of girls co-opted into bed because of their infatuations with older men (i.e. Dave 1). If you listen through the non stop involuntary dance provoking beats you’ll notice that a lot of effort has been put into making the tracks on this album actual songs, not just a collection of mind blowing beats. It’s true that you can hear all their influences as they come about, from Michael Jackson, to Herbie Hancock, to Rick James, to Prince it doesn’t make them any less great. If there was a battle for funkiest breakdown, “Call Me Up” would dominate. The Prince-tastic “Outta Sight” will have you turning purple out on the dance floor. Heck, Chromeo even pull off a full on power ballad in “Mama’s Boy”. This goes to show that right now, there is nobody funkier than Chromeo.
