Chromeo - She's In Contorol

Throughout Chromeo’s superlative-laden press release, it repeatedly warns not to call She’s in Control – the duo’s debut album for Vice Recordings – retro or hint at a trace of irony. Whether or not Chromeo pillage the ‘80s ironically or not, they undeniably steal from that decades funk grooves and new wave swagger. The entirely of She’s in Control consists of Pee Thug (his choice of a name, not mine) employing cheesy synthesizers and thumping drum machines while Dave 1 lays beat-heavy melodic vocals over the top. The only virtual differences between the tracks imbedded on She’s in Control are their beats per minute as Chromeo become increasingly redundant, eventually settling into trite and typical songs near the album’s end. And while She’s in Control may be fun while it lasts, seeing as how the ‘80s already presented us with an entire ten years of music extremely similar to this, Chromeo are little more annoying rehashers of a tired era. [www.vicerecordings.com]