Since few chunky house acts survive longer than their second 12" release, it's wonderful to hear another evergreen release from Miami's deepest groovers, Oscar Gaetan and Ralph Falcon (aka Funky Green Dogs and Murk). Star capitalizes on the low-pass joys of 1996's Get Fired Up! and injects a little Salsoul boogie into the irresistible mix. Gaetan and Falcon have always relied upon window-rattling basslines, and Star sticks to the theory that all the gospel wailing, hi-hat syncopation, and kick drum battery won't do shit for a dance floor without a bassline that promotes prolific rumpy-pumpy. Consequently, at home, when you spin a Murk or Funky Green Dogs tune, your speakers get a workout and a chance to prove how deep they can go.

By way of an example, I once spun the Murk-produced "Some Lovin'" by Liberty City. My nine year-old tabby cat, Sentinel, was cleaning himself near the woofer stack in my apartment, quite content in his self-assurance. As the Liberty City vocalist finished her first verse, and the b-line dropped, a fissure, caused by Murk's extreme bass maneuvers, opened up in space/time and wrenched Sentinel into an intra-dimensional universe. I wrote a letter to the record company about this unprovoked banditry, but I never received more than a standard "we're looking into it"-type letter. Sometimes, when I'm edging off into slumber, I catch sight of a gimlet-eyed feline, iridescent with electron sprites. I like to think that Sentinel is traveling about me in some fluxy realm, watching over me, and altering my future. Alternatively, he might just be pissed as all hell, giving me hard stares.

So just what VLF joys are contained on Star? The first single, "Body," is sub-standard pop fluff, though it introduces the come-hither vocals of Tamara. Rather than the dominatrix stylings of Pamela Williams who powered through Get Fired Up! and The Way, Tamara full-body massages in the same fashion as First Choice's Rochelle Fleming, Joyce Jones and Annette Guest did all those years ago.

"Movin'" and "Discotek" more than make up for the disappointing first single with stripped down, growling action. Tamara showcases more of her Philly disco tendencies during "Just a Little Luck," but the Funky Green Dogs resist the temptation to facsimile the Philly orchestral sound. Theirs is a more techno-inflected Detroit sound-- more Motor City than Brotherly Love. Tamara's slinky vocals, and the lads' mechanoid funk make for a winning contrast.

Of course, this being a Twisted release, Club 69's Paul Rauhofer has to stick on a wretchedly predictable mix. He chooses "Body" to make identical to all his other remixes. But I suppose it's better than if he'd decided to ruin "Discotek." In the end, Star holds together well as an album. Gaetan and Falcon never overplay their strengths or underuse them. And so what if they're not breaking any new ground whatsoever, or have a moniker as unfortunate as Funky Green Dogs? The fact that they're still producing chunky peak-hour house is original enough for me.

-Paul Cooper