Danish trio
Who Made Who move along the post-punk revival continuum from approximately 1979 (all those recent bands who sound more than a little like early
Gang of Four) to approximately 1981: the stiff angularity of the initial post-punk scene is softened into a disco-fied, synthed-out take on dance music, sometimes turning into a full-on kind of brittle white-boy funk. Think of
A Certain Ratio, certain elements of early
Thompson Twins and
Duran Duran,
the Au Pairs'
Sense and Sensuality, and -- yes --
Songs of the Free-era
Gang of Four, and you're about 80 percent of the way to
Who Made Who. That extra 20 percent is all-important, however: rather than shamelessly mimicking this era of pop music à la
the Rapture and
!!!,
Who Made Who use it only as a starting point for a set of catchy, danceable pop songs that aren't tied to any specific subcultural trends. This album is undeniably on the shallow and disposable side of dance-pop, no more made for long-term listening pleasure than the now largely forgotten early-'80s dance-pop hit "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag," but it's fluffy and superficial pop made with evident wit, care, and precision for maximum dancefloor appeal, and there's always room for that, no matter what decade it is. ~ Stewart Mason