CD Reviews

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CHROMEO

Fancy Footwork

4 Stars

& lt;span class= & quot;dropcap & quot; & C & lt;/span & hromeo will make you want to drive from Detroit to L.A. to avenge your best friend's grisly murder. That's how much Fancy Footwork sounds like the lost soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop (though benefiting from 21st-century production values). And that's cool. I personally think the world needs more percussive, spastic, blippy, bleepy funk. I also think the world needs more computer-generated handclaps.

There are points, though, where the band's sophomore album sounds more like the theme to Charles in Charge. That's when things start poppin'. "Momma's Boy," a song about girls wanting guys like their fathers and dudes wanting girls like their mothers, is sly enough to satirize both the puppy-love proclivities of '80s pop while still poking fun at Timbaland (and, by extension, Justin Timberlake) for his slavish connection to that kind of sentimentalism. A cultural critique bridging two decades, all while you shake your ass.

-- LUKE BAUMGARTEN

DOWNLOAD: "My Girl Is Calling Me a Liar"

DATA ROCK

Data Rock Data Rock

3 Stars

& lt;span class= & quot;dropcap & quot; & W & lt;/span & ith electronica's emphasis on rhythm created through synthesizers, keyboards and programmed drum machines, its intended audience is almost always slanted toward the bar-hopping dance crowd. Data Rock is no different; it spins various choppy beats fit for a stampede of midnight clubbers. Ironically, however, Data Rock aims its appeal more toward indie kids craving lyrical originality. Rather than using steady trip-hop to spit lines of short and sweet but heavily emotive prose (much as their fellow Norwegians in Royksopp do), Data Rock actually complicates its lyrics by flaunting the extreme simplicity in what is essentially everyday humor. This is a band that recognizes the irony of two stressed syllables in a single word ("Princess"), that uses a commercialized mantra as a bridge among intricate images ("Maybelline"), and that twists the theme song behind a classic '80s movie to redefine the raciness of the 21st century ("Computer Camp Love").

-- JULIA LIPSCOMB

DOWNLOAD: "Fa Fa Fa"