Down the house road

(Morning Star, Friday 08 September 2006)

ALBUM: Basement Jaxx - Crazy Itch Radio
(XL)

THE Jaxx - if I may - are a funny one. A dance band who burst onto the scene with a raft of exciting, illuminating tracks. Red Alert, Rendez-Vu, Romeo - all dancefloor fillers, but all with a little soul, a little heart and, yes, a little pop.

How disappointing to learn, then, that curiously handsome Felix and that other one have gone down a house music route with no return.

Fans of Kish Kash will probably be delighted to find more of the same sort of thing, but, sadly, that amounts to pretty soulless, pretty dire dance puff with not a lot of bright spots.

Single Hush Boy has a catchiness to it that repetitive beats beget, taking its rhythmic cue from Earth, Wind and Fire et al, with all the horror that entails.

Hey You melds disco with Mexicana, while On The Train lifts Hit The Road, Jack and makes it a little bit banal.

Their past has proven that Basement Jaxx have a vision of dance music. It was fun and listenable and, crucially, unique to them.

Unfortunately, Crazy Itch Radio portrays a couple of lads who've lost the plot, producing the same old, same old as all others of their ilk.

There's more than this to the world of dance, but the Jaxx have clearly forgotten the steps.