Tom Tom Club
If this fourth LP from the Tom Tom Club doesn't do well on the pop charts, it could find a second life as background music on a Jamaican holiday commercial. It's not that the songs aren't good. It's just that listening to their Caribbean party groove is the next best thing to a Club Med trip.
The Tom Toms' driving force is still the husband-and-wife team of ex-Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz, and while Dark Sneak Love Action isn't the all-night fiesta the group's decade-old debut LP was, it still has enough of a kick to inspire to dance even those who have the rhythm of frying bacon.
Like a good vacation, things start off strong. The first several songs, like "Sunshine and Ecstasy" and a percolating cover of the Hot Chocolate hit, "You Sexy Thing," slide by with a beat that's a bit too lively for reggae and a touch too smooth for disco. Weymouth's breathy vocals add sexiness in the mix, while Frantz's occasional Jerry-Lewis-on-helium background bleats add some cartoon kitsch.
Toward the end of the itinerary, though, the Tom Toms' tunes, with the exception of the bagpipes on "Daddy Come Home," acquire a predictable sameness. Still, Dark Sneak Love Action is a lot cheaper than Club Med, and the threat of sunburn is minimal. (Sire/Reprise)
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