The latest, destined to be big, release to emerge from the long building success story that is International American Gigolo is delivered by Mark L Ingram and Vanessa Josti-Crossover aka Desmond-Spaced Out Kid Humanoid and Verona-Darling Starchild. Otherwise known as Crossover.
Crossover originally appeared via Sasha, founder of New York's experimental dance imprint, Codek.
Their sound, as those who have come to know Gigolo's output would expect, is deep, dirty and funky but Teutonic, clinically edged electro, over-laid by Lene Lovich, Germanic cabaret monologues. Surgically dirty tech funk for pop tarts, reformed electronic indie sluts and re-born electro heads.
Typical is 'Extensive Care', a minimal, early synth pop track, over which Verona adopts a flirty, sensual Euro US accent and intones: 'Admit one, I'm in the back row, I'm in a picture... handle me with care, I'm sentimental, I'm tickled pink. Admit two, my spitting image.'
Despite the name, and the likelihood that this could follow Tiga and Zyntherius to become the next big cross over for Gigolo, the duo's long player pays scant attention to variation, instead taking us to the very heart of the electro-pop groove in a more purist way than the clubs, or the compilation albums they've recently spawned, do.
The first time we hear anything that breaks the rhythm pattern, and render something close to house, is on track six of the nine track album.
It is therefore surprising that this works as well as it does, with tracks such as 'Green Teeth' adding variation through the introduction of squelchy acidic bass lines over the top of the steady two four spank of electronic snares.
And, thanks to the smudgy grime that gets under the fingernails of the production values, there is something defiantly organic about Crossover's overall sound that saves it from sounding like a sterile copy of the often soulless early Eighties attempts at electronic music.
Once again techno has plundered its roots. But this time it's unearthed something that is both dirtier than Detroit while breaking the ultimate Mike Banks' commandment by being dangerously pop.
Naughty, nice and hopefully destined to have a longer shelf life than 'Lucky Numbers'.
