It has always been abundantly clear that Mr Oizo is in this game for the music. Many lesser artists would be flogging a tune like ‘Flat Beat’ to death, but an awful lot – much of it good – has happened to him since then. ‘Wrong Cops’ brings out the best in him – his sense of humour, short attention span and knack for a good riff all present and correct. A lot of the music is typically off the wall, funky and irreverent. ‘Cut Dick’ has one of those riffs that never stops, but in ‘Flip Bat’ you can hear the cinematic qualities that have led to a good number of soundtrack commissions. ‘Jo’ is one of the best of all, the breeziest funk you could ever wish to hear, a kind of quicker update of Steely Dan’s ‘Peg’. Meanwhile ‘Z’ sounds like a souped-up excerpt from the soundtrack to ‘The Man With Two Brains’! This is endlessly entertaining stuff – and the feeling persists that there is an awful lot more to come.
4 out of 5
Reviewed By Ben Hogwood
