Basement Jaxx - Crazy Itch Radio

Genre electronica Publisher XL Recordings External Links Official Basement Jaxx Website Official XL Recordings Website

Let's get it out of the way: Crazy Itch Radio is a letdown. To talk about why, we have to go back to Basement Jaxx's earlier albums. Remedy,, Rooty, and Kish Kash delivered an overwhelming blend of charm, wit, sparkle. Each was a bubbling stew of maximalist fun-fun-fun, prepared from the freshest-sounding samples and beats. They were rounded out by their share of filler, but the highs more than compensated, giving rise to massive future expectations.

So it would have taken an amazing record to avert a letdown, but what we've got falls somewhat short. From the lead-off single ("Hush Boy"), to the interludes, which employ a tired trope - album as radio station - to the final, hidden track ("U R On My Mind"), some spark is missing from Crazy Itch Radio, as if Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe have run low on ideas. Instead of feeling fresh, the ingredients clash. The album's wide range of styles are intellectually engaging but rarely do the products go all the way to make the gut - and feet - level connections that mind-melters like "Romeo" and "Good Luck" nailed. A partial exception is "Take Me Back To Your House," which has a go at country-house and, amazingly, almost pulls it off. The chorus doesn't reach the heights of the best Jaxx tracks, but any use of a banjo in a dance track that isn't immediately repulsive is an achievement, and Martina Bang (aka Canadian singer-songwriter Martina Sorbara) provides one of the album's best vocal performances. But "Run 4 Cover," which seems at first to be a joyful, careening, collision-bound mess in classic Jaxx style, turns sour when the underwhelming grime-pop stylings of Lady Marga fall flat. The Jaxx have had a talent in the past for getting great work from their vocalists, but on this record the singers tend not to be up to snuff. Previous Jaxx albums were like a box of wrapped chocolates - you couldn't be sure what you'd get next, but the good finds made continued sampling worthwhile. Crazy Itch Radio is similarly varied, but with highlights that fall short of rewarding is a slog to get through the whole album.