Tipsy
Uh-Oh
[Asphodel]
Rating: 5.9
Like Garfunkel was to Simon, Kieran to Macaulay Culkin, or Barbara ("Hillary")
Hershey to Bette ("CC") Midler in Beaches, the revival of lounge music
lived in new-swing's shadow. While its big-brother genre simultaneously
blazed the pop charts and induced vomiting in the late '90s, lounge reigned
as its decidedly hipper counterpart. Lounge was merely approached, rather
than exploited Setzer-style, by the likes of Dimitri from Paris and Air, only
to end up in K-Mart and Pantene commercials.
In short, lounge music has enjoyed an existence comparable to that of a
likable, staminate starlet. It's not dead, per se-- at least, not as
outrageously washed-up as swing. Even so, the ooh-la-la's that were sighed
upon exotica's return now sound more like resounding eh's. Its retro-fresh
appeal died with Furbys and Pam Grier's comeback.
Tipsy's Dave Gardner and Tim Digullia seem aware of this fact on their
sophomore release, Uh-Oh. Tipsy's musical framework retreads the
tumbler-shaking shuffle of nu-lounge in a post-nu-lounge world. But far be
it from a band named Tipsy to take a straightforward approach to revivalism;
they also firmly integrate noisier elements here. And if this combination
seems inappropriate or skewed, it's because it is. Slipping dissonant,
screeching bleeps into a placid, space-age bachelor pad schema seems oddly
passive-aggressive, though not enough of either to pass as legitimately
interesting.
But it's the studio trickery that bogs down Uh-Oh the most. Songs like
"Wig Out" and "Swallowtail" owe as much to Funkstörung as they do Dean Martin
or Les Baxter. This isn't due to freeform beat-swapping, but the constant
song-morphing that comes with G4-processed sound effects. Popping bubbles,
eerie theremins, breakbeats, backwards tape loops, and lazy organs are all
mixed together over a beat fit for hip-swiveling. Hidden layers reveal
themselves with repeat listens, but since all of this comes under the guise
of rehashed neo-lounge, it's just not compelling enough to reach "moderate
rotation" status in the disc changer.
Of course, there's a tongue-in-cheek element to Tipsy's work that lends the
material some dizzy fun. "Reverse Cowgirl" juxtaposes a sped-up spaghetti
western guitar riff over driving jazzy beats. The deliciously titled
"Moisture Seekers" finds its beat in a looped sample of a person coughing.
"Bunny Kick" plays like the theme music for a jetlagged Mary Tyler Moore
exploring Paris, while a band of women "ah" over funky bongos and hand-held
bells that practically implore that a martini be shaken along with them.
"Sweet Cinnamon Punch" is the only song on Uh-Oh that's a truly
exceptional, complete realization of Tipsy's concocting. It opens with
descending strings reminiscent of Aphex Twin's "Girl/Boy Song," which are
echoed by a keyboard. Beats shuffle in and continue their stroll until the
swelling climax. Then, a dulcet sax solo enters, adding bursts of organic
tenderness to an already heartfelt track.
Still, one captivating song out of eighteen provides a bittersweet longing for
what Tipsy might sound like if they were exercised more restraint around studio
gadgetry. Because as glossy and perfected as Uh-Oh sounds, it still
stumbles over itself with overbearing kookiness-- the formula is more seasick
than half-drunk and giddy.
-Richard M. Juzwiak