Coming nearly three years after their debut full-length -- practically a lifetime in the ever-mutating world of dance music -- Sex, Drugs and Blah Blah Blah finds the erstwhile breakbeat DJ duo Atomic Hooligan in the process of transforming themselves into a full-on pop band complete with a growing use of live instruments. For example, first single "I Don't Care," simplistic and repetitive lyrics (vocals courtesy of Elmo Jones from the Furies) aside, sounds at least as much like the Arctic Monkeys as it does Daft Punk. Similarly, "Dirty" is heavy, gangsta-fied hip-hop (featuring U.K. rapper Genesis Elijah) crossed with a Gary Glitter-like glam rock stomp, and semi-title track "Blah Blah Blah" introduces a perfectly deployed bit of John Barry-style brass under Justine Berry's withering scenester takedown of a vocal. In this context, more traditionally electro tracks like the chilled, Middle Eastern-inflected "Safeguard," the acid house-tinged throwback appropriately titled "Spread Good Vibes," and the mellow groove of "Too Late to Be Afraid" sound like an entirely appropriate blend of genres and styles that fit in well with the more pop-oriented tracks. However, other tracks, including the thumping "Who's Ya Daddy Now," "Thief," and "Electro Ain't Electro" (featuring lead vocals by nude model Alex Sim-Wise, whose musical gifts are less impressive than her other attributes) are strictly electro-by-numbers, with uninspired beats, anonymous diva vocals, and little to differentiate them from similarly blah examples of the form. Of course, the album has never been the best format for this singles-based style, but the better two-thirds or so of Sex, Drugs and Blah Blah Blah suggest that Atomic Hooligan may be the next act to follow Daft Punk, Caribou, and LCD Soundsystem into the pop mainstream.
© Stewart Mason /TiVo