Have the B-52s really been away? You wouldn't think so, because their new album, Funplex, plays like a splashy mix of club-hopping joy that is just as effervescent as it's always been. It's like the band stepped outside the Love Shack for a quick smoke break and then hopped back in like they'd never been gone in the first place. Everything that you've come to love and expect from the zany Athens, Georgia quartet is still alive and throbbing. Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson still have their heavenly harmonies in place as they coo out instructions to "strip naked" and sigh about "stokin and strokin." And oh yes, there's still no one quite like Fred Schneider who hasn't lost a beat when it comes to anchoring the candy-colored band with his snarky spoken asides.
Like all B-52s albums, the temperature on Funplex is set on high, but, if possible, the band manage to up it a notch, ensuring that club-goers the world over will be getting their dance on. Who needs a flickering strobe light when you have songs like the hotter than hot "Ultraviolet"? The song includes the lyrics "tell your skirt to take a hike" and there will probably be many a mini that will take that advice and run with it. Also luminous in its decadence is the opening track, "Pump," which promises to "take you to the freaky zone" and doesn't fail to deliver.
The quirky popsters do a good job at keeping a steady hum going, and it will probably make many a club DJ happy since they can just push play and sit back knowing that the floor will keep hopping. There is, though, one song that leaps out of the mix with a little extra pizzazz. The album's title track, "Funplex," could easily turn out to be the crowning jewel in the band's already hit-heavy crown. It has the perfect '80s pop sound but mixes in a dark vibe that keeps them firmly planted in the here and now. The song shimmies like nobody's business and Schneider keeps the action revved up with his chants of "faster, pussy cat, thrill thrill." |