Pepé Deluxe, the Finnish trio consisting of two DJs and a knob-tweak geek (DJ Slow, Ja-Jazz and James Spectrum, respectively), are doing their damnedest to gain recognition before even releasing any material in the States. The trio's debut, which has already been out in Europe for a year, was preceded by work-for-hire on ads, jingles, and mood music for phone sex. They even latched onto that K-Mart icon, Buddy Lee, to scored his latest ad campaign for indestructible jeans. Their single also made the rounds of monthly British press CD samplers, and before you knew it, a word-of-mouth campaign ignited to make even the Blair Witch proud.

And it's no wonder. Mixing downtempo with trip-hop and some samples from a funky-ass toolbox (where you keep your funky-ass tools, of course), Pepé Deluxe seem to have struck upon a recipe for success. Their goal is still to get the club bouncing off its foundation like something out of a Steamboat Willie cartoon, but their methods are a little more off the beaten path.

Keep in mind that this is European hip-hop. All the funk has been filtered through a sample and a decision; the choices of riffs, beats and basslines are safe ones. Tried and true wellsprings are tapped for source material, and if the samples aren't familiar, their genres are. In one case, the guys even appear to have visited the old black market fence where Jimmy Page used to acquire illicit delta blues licks.

The opener, "Three Times a Player," opens with a sampled filmstrip narrator assuring us that what we're about to hear "will bring back memories to some, will open up new fields to others." With its anthemic chorus, rapido scratches and caught-short synth breaks, the track is a fine benchmark for the rest of the disc, and sets a nice tone with the boast.

"Woman in Blue" is bouncy and buoyant with soulful vocals. "Everybody Pass Me By" builds its diverse components-- sampled slide guitar lick, original bluesman vox loop, bass, drums and handclaps-- into a true standout. But from these simple elements, Pepé Deluxe treats us with a room-rocker for the ages. "Super Sound (Two Ton Bee Mix)" rips along atop meatgrinder bass and light organ and, indeed, sounds as intimidating and improbable as a 4,000 pound yellowjacket. The downbeat hip-hop ballad "La Femme" even takes center stage at just the right moment to remind us that the Finns have their mellow side, too.

Perhaps having kicked out the jams a little too quickly, the pace falters a bit near the end of Super Sound. "Big Muff" seems mundane with its traditional call-and-response crowd incitement technique: "Number One!/ Say no one!/ Say I feel! / Say Real Good!" And "Moogjam at Cafe Liberto" is a mess of a song; its attempt to venture off into slightly more experimental territory can only be viewed as an abject failure. Fortunately, the disc ends back on a high note: "The Woman in Black (Sonorous Star Mix)" eviscerates the earlier blue version, and settles into an almost ambient, textured mini-masterpiece.

Pepé Deluxe have demonstrated a lot of promise with Super Sound. Their technical skills are above reproach. It's the sort of wizardry that allows DJ Slow to claim four-time Finnish DMC national champ and Ja-Jazz to finish strong in European DJ challenges. Let's hope they become Finland's #1 export in years to come, if for no other reason than to provide some balance to that pap their Scandinavian neighbor Sweden keeps shipping over here.

-John Dark