Business Casual
Blog-house leftovers jump to Atlantic and continue to demonstrate a love of and appreciation for squelchy chart pop.
When Chromeo burst into the disco ball-refracted limelight with 2007’s Fancy Footwork, the duo’s eventual remembrance as a late-aughts novelty—the uncouth cousins of Justice and LCD Soundsystem—seemed a foregone conclusion. Simply aping the ’80s can only get a band so far. But like Hot Chip before them, Montreal’s…
If it didn’t capture the fun of ‘80s pop, it just wouldn’t be Chromeo. And for their third album, Pee Thug and Dave One are as campy and faithful to their roots as humanly (and robotically) possible. Coming off shows with Daryl Hall, after a guest spot on the blue-eyed soul singer’s Web show Live from Daryl’s House, the duo has tapped deeper into the intricacies of AM pop. Business Casual has the typically synth-suave electro-funk jams, like “Hot Mess” and “Night by Night,” featuring Gemayel's talkbox mastery over strobe-lit four-on-the-floor beats that are right in step with “Tenderoni” and “Needy Girl.”
They should sound geographically displaced, musically vulgar and wholly wrong, but conclusion jumping is bad form and Chromeo, as they are collectively known, retrofit with a garish sophistication that casually courts the dance-floor before politely refusing in search of a better offer.
It seems like the prevailing ethos of Business Casual can be gleaned from the ridiculous guitar solo at the heart of “Night by Night.”