Coming out of the same Brixton-to-Ibiza scene as the internationally hailed
Basement Jaxx (whose Simon Radcliffe was
Mutiny UK keyboard-playing figurehead Dylan Barnes' partner in an early version of the band, before producer Rob Davy showed up),
Mutiny UK don't have the pop crossover credibility of their better-known neighbors, but their second full-length, 2004's
Yada Yada, is as good or better than any
Basement Jaxx release. Although the album starts with a techno-inflected reworking of the 2002 single "Yaself" and second single "Holding On" is a vocal remake of the earlier instrumental "Piano Thing" starring guest diva Lorraine Cato,
Yada Yada flows as an album, not as a collection of singles and filler interludes. Based on the standard 4/4 beat and percolating synth bass of Ibiza-style house music but skillfully varying the attack with a bit of jazzy guitar here and some reggae influences there (most successfully on the bouncy "Dem Girls," with guest vocals from Sweetie Irie),
Yada Yada doesn't succumb to the deadening thump of so many similar albums. ~ Stewart Mason