If it didn’t capture the fun of ‘80s pop, it just wouldn’t be
Chromeo. And for their third album, Pee Thug and Dave One are as campy and faithful to their roots as humanly (and robotically) possible. Coming off shows with
Daryl Hall, after a guest spot on the blue-eyed soul singer’s Web show Live from Daryl’s House, the duo has tapped deeper into the intricacies of AM pop. Business Casual has the typically synth-suave electro-funk jams, like “Hot Mess” and “Night by Night,” featuring Gemayel's talkbox mastery over strobe-lit four-on-the-floor beats that are right in step with “Tenderoni” and “Needy Girl.” As the album progresses, though, Macklovitch and Gemayel dig deeper into crates for cheesy inspiration, and you can hear glimmers of
Rockwell,
Lionel Richie,
Oran Juice, and even The Kids from Fame TV series. “The Right Type” seems custom-made for a montage, and the snappy “Grow Up” could be the theme from a sitcom. Elsewhere, Solange Knowles does her best
Whitney/
Mariah impression for "When the Night Falls," and “J’ai Claqué la Porte,” with its Casio fills and fingerpicked acoustic, is sung entirely in French and features Dave One at his most smirkingly romantic. [The Deluxe Edition of Business Casual features several remixes of “Night by Night” and “Don’t Turn the Lights On.”] ~ Jason Lymangrover