Junkie Jones

Before the review starts, I need to write a note for all the American listeners who think Europop or Eurodance music is superficial and soulless. Who Made Who is a trio from Denmark and they brazenly admit to making “DISCO” music. But what they use to shape their so-called disco are sounds most often heard in funk, surf, folk and numerous other odd influences.

The band also sticks with a male vocalist - who would never be be mistaken for a diva - for about half the songs and the other half are instrumentals. The lyrics are for the most part intelligent and creative.

Now then, I still can only give this band a 50/50. Half the time they had me funking and rocking, noting the funkadelic bass lines of “Rose” and “Johnny Lucky,” the surf rolling in with “Space for Rent” and the cool spaghetti western undertones of “Small Wonders.” The other half of the time I was waiting for the next song and hoping it would be an improvement to the last.

“Cigar” is my favorite - a Ventures-like guitar is bouyed by a heavy dance beat and synth sounds the surf boys never imagined. The lyrics almost run counter to the music, but I like the slight contradiction.

The only song I had to stop - it stretched Eurodance into an unbearable parody of itself - was “Satisfaction,” and it was the “bonus track.” Ugh. The song is on Gomma Gang 3’s mix CD and the mix is a much better fit for that CD. Its cliched music and distant (read snotty) vocals are what give the whole Euro-sound a bad name here in the slightly less snotty states.

The CD as whole seemed to decline in quality toward the end. I don’t know if it was due to listener overload, similarity in songs, or just a matter of the band putting the best at the top. If they hoped to overcome that downhill slide with “Satisfaction,” it was a bad, bad idea.

“Who Made Who” is worth a listen. I’ll always encourage listening to music from outside your geographic comfort zone. As my old Japanese grandmother used to say, “Every time you try something new, you live a little longer.” (At last count, she was 98.) Increase your lifespan at www.cduniverse.com. Search “Who Made Who.”

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