Was (Not Was) scares up the old magic with latest release

Boo!
WAS (NOT WAS)
(Rykodisc)

It's been 18 years, but those pranksters of soul, those progenitors of mutant disco, are back — and I couldn't be happier. Was (Not Was), for the uninitiated, is an unlikely amalgam: two Jewish boyhood friends from the Detroit suburbs — stage-named Don and David Was — and two black R&B singers: soul-shouter Sweet Pea Atkinson and smooth-voiced Harry Bowens. They're joined by a coterie of ace players.

Boo! relies on essentially the same modus operandi that Was (Not Was) did during their heyday in the '80s: Don writes the hooks and does most of the arrangements; David pens the lyrics — satirical, subversive and sometimes downright funny, but with meaning amid the silliness; Sweet Pea and Harry sing the hell out of the songs while the backing band cooks.

Boo! essentially gives no quarter to current trends. The songs are built around deep, organic funk, spunky Motown flava and splashes of electro-dance, with some oddities tossed in.

And irony everywhere: "It's a Miracle" is a gorgeous throwback soul number, with horns and organs and sweet backing vocals supporting Atkinson's raspy lead. Then the lyrics: "Uncle Kenny is yelling at his wife, he screams/ 'Who broke the fuckin' TV?," the latter line delivered in a lush choir of harmonies.

Sometimes it's not played for laughs. The disc's best song, the ballad "From the Head to the Heart," is built around plaintive piano chords and a divine melody. With a vulnerable, fragile falsetto, Bowens begins, "There's a story in the paper/ About a young boy laying dead/ Tried to steal a TV/ When he should've been in bed."

Elsewhere, the group channels Sly Stone ("Your Luck Won't Last") and George Clinton ("Semi-Interesting Week"). Like past Was (Not Was) LPs, there are a handful of misses. The midtempo "Big Black Hole" is burdened by a computer-doctored vocal; so is "Forget Everything," a rather run-of-the-mill funk tune.

Now for the idiosyncratic stuff: No Was (Not Was) album would be complete without one of David Was' maniacal rants (anyone remember "Earth to Doris"?); This time it's "Needletooth," which begins, "Back when I ate cactus pie, they called me Needletooth." I could do without the heavily computerized vocal, but the song is a hoot nonetheless. Boo! closes with an atmospheric piece, "Green Pills on the Dresser," with guest Kris Kristofferson talk-singing a demented farewell, "I gotta go now/ I wish I could stay." The tune contains my favorite couplet on the record: "Can you please tell me the price/ Of murder by the slice?"

In the late-'80s, when Was (Not Was) scored a couple of hits with "Spy in the House of Love" and especially "Walk the Dinosaur," they were widely branded a novelty act. But that's always been a misnomer. Their music is catchy, rhythmic and clever. Sounds like an excellent combination to me. 4 stars —Eric Snider

When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold
ATMOSPHERE
(Rhymesayers)

Minneapolis underground hip-hoppers, rapper Slug (aka Sean Daley) and producer Ant, follow 2005's You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having with a lyrically and musically mature narrative about growing up, having kids and the working-class struggle. Opener "Like the Rest of Us" drops a brooding, loungey-piano over sparse beats before "Puppets" and "You" — a Gnarls Barkley-esque track with a thick bass line and thicker refrain — kick into more traditional Atmospherics. Live instrumentation lends a Roots-y vibe. Slug proves himself a fine third-person storyteller throughout the socially minded disc. On flute-funk jam "The Waitress," none other than Tom Waits beatboxes (!) as the MC plays a homeless diner: "I got a pocketful of panhandled money/ On a cup of bad coffee and a stale honey bun/ In front of everyone she calls me bum." 3.5 stars —Amanda Schurr

Trust Me
CRAIG DAVID
(Reprise)

On this, his bid at cracking the American charts, U.K. two-stepper David pulls a Diddy with his first single, the Bowie-copping "Hot Stuff (Let's Dance)." It's innocuous and tired, as are several slick, club-ready R&B numbers (staccato "Six and One Thing," funk-lite "Friday Night"). The heavy lifting doesn't stop there: He samples The Stylistics' "You are Everything" for "Kinda Girl for Me," a sexy ballad done once too often. Slow jams "Officially Yours" and "Awkward" fare best, tapping emotion on an otherwise soulless record. 2 stars —AS

This article appears in May 21-27, 2008.