Junior Senior - D-D-Don’t Don’t Stop the Beat

The perpetual flaw of the dance/party genre is that it willingly acknowledges its own emotionless, immaterial quality; all that matters is the beat and the level of enthusiasm in the vocals. The lack of concept and sentiment forces party-type bands to have a zealous, attention-grabbing image (in an effort to attach some substance to the disposable music). This is why in every other review that you may come across they will go into great detail concerning the personalities of the band-mates, one named Junior and the other named Senior. I’m not interested in selling you anything but music, so I’ll skip the biography. D-D-Don’t Don’t Stop the Beat has all the necessary ingredients for a party atmosphere: shameless drum machines, chanting hip-hop (sometimes even disco) vocals, off-the-cuff lyrics, twangy bass, horns and strings, and some relatively lo-fi production. The “live recording” sound gives it an old-fashioned quality that is reminiscent of a variety of eras, ranging from the Beach Boys in “ Rhythm Bandits” to Michael Jackson in “Move Your Feet”; at times it almost sounds like a “garage” counterpart to dance or hip-hop. This is the type of album where it’s fun to hear the single now and then but probably isn’t worth purchasing the album. Bands like Beastie Boys and Daft Punk make for a great party atmosphere, but they also transcend such a singular intention and double as excellent personal listening. Junior Senior does not, and since it isn’t anything greater than its image, I’d rather hear it in passing than in full. [www.juniorsenior.com]