Get Get Get Your Party Party On On

In the latest UR Chicago, I reviewed Junior Senior's new(-ish) album, Hey Hey My My Yo Yo. It's so hard to compress all your thoughts about one album into 150 words, and I'm not going to quote the whohttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifle review here, but phrases like "non-stop party marathon," "the 80's are back in full force" and "generic, anonymous lyrics" give you an idea. (You can find the review at their website in the Reverb section until the next issue's reviews replace it.)

HHMMYY really threw me for a loop. They managed to evolve by regressing. It's like they combined the R&B/disco/pop of the 70's and 80's with their Casio-keyboard productions in a dehydrator: all the unwanted fat dripped off and you're left with tight, crisp sonic nuggets. The Danish duo adds piano and hand claps to what sounds like a Jackson 5 cover on "Ur a Girl." The single "Can I Get Get Get" (they obviously really like stuttering words and repetitive titles) is squeaky, squirmy cartoon funk. Like the Junkyard Gang got horny. And one of the highlights is when Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson of the B-52's belt like gangbusters through "Take Your Time." Through not one but two key changes, they buttress the giddy melody to its euphoric highs.

They're seriously focused on having fun: nothing lasts even four minutes and there's not a mid-tempo song or ballad in the bunch. Unfortunately, that's where I got a smidge disappointed. Sure, they're having a lot of fun and throwing one hell of a party, but the hosts remain anonymous. On the sunny surfer pop of their first album, D-D-Don't Stop the Beat, straight "Junior" and gay "Senior" had a funny back-and-forth repartee that was quirky and unique. "B-b-b-b-boys are handsome and tall," sang Senior. "G-g-g-g-girls are nasty and small," chimed in Junior. They sang of "Chicks and Dicks" and every little hipster in nail polish and hipsterette with buzzed hair felt equally sexy.

It seems that, in an effort to really focus on their aesthetic, they felt they had to check their personalities at the door. Obviously they can't ride their "one of us is gay and one is straight!" act for too long. It's a gimmick that wears out its welcome as fast as being a gay white rapper. But did they have to resort to such banal, "break it up, break it down" lyrics in order to serve their musical vision? "Senior" barely even shows up to sing or rap at all. They do, however, present themselves as the coolest of the uncool nerds, so Junior probably doesn't mind dancing all by himself.

Also check out: Okay, Go: Dance Duo Edition (Justice and Junior Senior)
And: Rock the Cazwell

Okay, Go: Dance Duo Edition (Justice and Junior Senior)

*Updated below!

You know, MTV has gotten a lot of (deserved) shit for not playing any actual music, but now it and its sister station VH1 have really abandoned music videos altogether. It's shameful, really, as some videos can approach works of art, like this one or this one.

For this edition of Okay, Go, my occasional post dedicated to the dying art of music videos and/or new artists you should hear, we will be distracting you with not one but two new videos. First up, French duo Justice are back on the scene and ready to dance. You might remember them as the winners at the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards that provoked Kanye West to jump on stage, protest and generally lose his mind. "D.A.N.C.E." features hipsters walking around with constantly changing animated t-shirts. Simple concept, awesome execution. Oh yeah, and the song itself is pretty sweet, being sung entirely by a children's chorus and sounding as if could be pumped through your local roller disco.



I especially like when one t-shirt quickly flashes "Internet killed the video star." It's so true and yet...it's so not. The internet delivers music videos whenever we want them, on demand and ready at a moment's notice. But because they're so accessible online, MTV and its brethren seem to have completely abandoned them for the same reason. Thank you, Youtube! You give record companies and artists reason for pumping thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars into a single that has no chance of ever being seen on TV!

*(After winning the 2006 MTV Europe Music Award for Best Video of the Year, Justice is now nominated for the US equivalent! It really comes out of nowhere - no other major nominations, they're not a mainstream band. And yet, with that kind of recognition for an actually good video, it's almost like MTV...has...taste...)

Next up is Junior Senior. This Denmark duo burst onto the scene in 2003 with the scarily peppy "Move Your Feet," accompanied by a hilarious early-Atari-graphics video. They're finally back with Hey Hey My My Yo Yo and its first single, "Take My Time." It's a Red Bull, tequila and crack cocktail of a song (wait, the song actually sounds kind of 80's, so what kind of cocktail would that be? Percocet, tequila and crack? Valium, tequila and Freezy Freakies juice?). There's not one but two key changes, culminating in a euphoric, almost hysterical climax (your speakers at work probably won't do it justice). Even better, the lyrics are belted out by none other than Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson of the B-52's. (The band is working on a new album, btw.)



In fact, I couldn't help but notice that the hand-drawn graphics in "Take My Time" more than slightly resemble the graphics for the B-52's own "Roam." Coincidence? Homage? You decide, then tell me. Okay, go!

Also check out: Okay, Go: Scissor Sisters.
And: Okay, Go: Mika.