Don’t forget to rate the album at the end of the review.
Basement Jaxx
Scars
Ultra Records
out October 6th
68/100
[Rating Scale]

Basement Jaxx are, at this point, an old group, as strange as that sounds. 2009’s Scars comes a full decade after the duo burst onto the dance music scene with Remedy, a longevity matched by few artists in today’s blog-and-youtube-and-download music culture. At this point, Basement Jaxx are pretty set in their ways – they got this far on the strength of quirky, vocal-centric house music that samples the instrumentation and character of R&B, funk, and more, while keeping it all unabashedly pop, and they’re not gonna change now. That said, there’s a reason Basement Jaxx are still putting out albums in 2009, and that’s because, although they have a formula, it’s a damn good one.

Scars is thus an exercise in execution – Basement Jaxx aren’t reinventing the wheel, just looking for a smooth ride. For the most part then, Scars is a success – these thirteen tracks are catchy, danceable, and thoroughly entertaining, if not ground-breaking. Starting off with the title track, Scars is a bit steadier than its predecessors – the beat thumping along throughout its 52 brisk minutes. It just feels like the product of an established, mature group; a polished, crisp sounding album. Continue reading →