Chromeo

• Fancy Footwork [Vice, 2008] A-
• Business Casual [Big Beat/Atlantic/Vice, 2010] ***
• White Women [Atlantic/Big Beat, 2014] A-

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Fancy Footwork [Vice, 2008]
Now repackaged with a free remix disc I'll never play again, this Montreal duo do Daft Punk with simpler, surer hooks and marginally human voices. Dance by genre, they're pop by spiritual affinity, and whaddaya know, they sing in English--presque pas de français. This matters deeply only on the sweetly revealing "Momma's Boy," but it's reassuring throughout. They love them some girls, and they're so uptempo about it. A-

Business Casual [Big Beat/Atlantic/Vice, 2010]
Great move to bring Solange in midway through, only she immediately steps to the front of the personality parade ("When the Night Falls," "Night by Night") ***

White Women [Atlantic/Big Beat, 2014]
As postmodern lover boys go, David Macklovitch and Patrick Gemayel--let's get those sexy surnames in the lead!--are humorous and humane, and their songwriting has never been more worthy of Dave 1's Ph.D. in French lit. Never been catchier, either. The first four tracks don't quit--delectate "Over Your Shoulder"'s A-cup sex object, or the "Sexy Socialite" they wish was a socialist. A sadder and staider Solange, whose light-footed walk-on gave their third-album slump a bump, passes her spangled baton to special guest star Ezra Koenig, whose two-minute cameo promises a boutique sideline in DeBarge covers. True enough--it's only synthy dance-pop with guitar embellishments, by Canadians yet. But what's also true is that the last four tracks don't quit either. A-