Electric Six | Junior Senior

Fire (XL/Beggars) | D-D-Don't Don't Stop the Beat (Crunchy Frog/Mercury)

Comments (0) By Mikael Wood Thursday, May 29 2003

What's the only thing better than a killer novelty song about dancing that marries disco's forward momentum and textural whoosh to rock's blow-dried grit and radio-hit brevity? A whole album full of them! These two groups--Detroit five-piece the Electric Six and Danish duo Junior Senior--are the proud owners of two of the year's most viscerally enjoyable singles: "Danger! High Voltage," which has been kicking around since 2001 (back when the Six were called the Wildbunch and before friend and guest vocalist Jack White was recognizable in Tokyo), and "Move Your Feet," which sounds like Off the Wall-era Michael Jackson if Quincy Jones were named Fred Schneider. Since this isn't a perfect world, the E6's Fire and Junior Senior's D-D-Don't Don't Stop the Beat don't actually maintain that level of excellence from open to close--even the Andrew W.K. record flags a little at the end. But the Six's "Dance Commander" brings Dr. Dre's high-end keyboard whine to Detroit for pleasures not involving Eminem, and "Gay Bar" is a terrific vehicle for singer Dick Valentine's wack-ass English accent. Buoyed by the success of "Move Your Feet" on dance floors across the globe, Junior Senior just signed a contract with Atlantic, which will release Don't Stop in the United States later this summer. Still, if canned surf guitar ("Chicks and Dicks"), sweet Motown thump ("Shake Me Baby") and/or pizza-party keyboards ("Rhythm Bandits") float your boat, you may well find the disc worth its current import price. After all, the novelty song--even a killer one--waits for no one.