Cassius - Toop Toop (Virgin)
2/5
By: Michael Cragg
Cassius sauntered into the musical limelight with the brilliant 'Cassius 1999' single in, er, 1999, following quickly on the coat tails of French counterparts Air and Daft Punk. The subsequent album (entitled somewhat helpfully, '1999') was a riot of disco, house and hip-hop. For a short time French dance music seemed to be everywhere, and yet as with the aforementioned acts, Cassius couldn't maintain their initial success, be it commercial or artistic.
'Au Reve', released in 2002, was a major disappointment, the duo swapping their sense of fun for a more concerted effort to build a 'musical monument'; it didn't work and the duo briefly went their separate ways to concentrate on solo projects.
Having realised that two heads are better then one they reconvened to create the forthcoming album, '15 Again' (featuring Pharrell Williams, no less). The connotations of the album title read like a warning; they're re-living their youth, trying to reclaim that initial burst of naivety even after the moment has well and truly passed.
'Toop Toop', the lead off single, suggests perhaps their time in the studio has been a bit of a waste. It's one of those songs that's meant to irritate and slowly gorge it's way into your cranium, however it struggles to get past the initial stage of irritation. The chorus goes something like this, 'Toop Toop, Shoop Shoop'...yes, that annoying. It may feature some nice electronic squelches and the guitar riff is a bit of departure for them, but it leaves this particular listener feeling cold. One saving grace is Mr Oizo - you know, the one who did the music for that Levis advert with the yellow puppet - who remixes the original and puts it through a blender, distorting it until it resembles a completely different song. This is a good thing.
Artists in this article: Cassius
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