After the European club success of Ride On and subsequent Continental media saturation through ads for BMW, Coca-Cola, and a host of others, the Frank Popp Ensemble now set their sights on an Anglophone audience with this U.K.-issued EP, The Swinging Library Sound of...the Frank Popp Ensemble. At this point, though, the ubiquity of spy film kitsch -- almost every country familiar with James Bond has its own locally flavored knockoff -- makes crossover to any Westernized culture a given for this swinging go-go-booted crew. That culture can refer to personal taste and cheese, too, as retro-novelty dance tunes like "Goo Goo Muck" and the brassy "Hurry Up!" hit the ear with the same subtlety as feta hits the nose. It's not all so strong, though, and the two stealthy instrumentals that close out the EP, "The Thing Demands" and "Slaughter at Primrose Hill," both show that the Frank Popp Ensemble have a little more staying power that your average commercial jingle.
© Wade Kergan /TiVo