Armed with a keytar and a parrot, The Similou are one of the many new electro-pop exports from Sweden. Although released a year ago in their home country, their debut album, So Hot Right Now, is (slowly) starting to catch on internationally. So Hot Right Now succeeds where it fails. The Similou are able to stay interesting by creating a hybrid of many different styles, textures and sounds. But. Even though they are able to create solid individual tracks, the album as a whole often feels unfocused or not very consistent. This is a common pitfall of many artist”™s first though, and certainly not a reason to overlook them. The Similou seem to have a lot of ideas bouncing around, but not enough to tie it all together… though when they’re good, they’re very good.

If the original version of The Similou”™s kiss-off track, “Ladykillers,” is flamboyant electro-disco-pop, then perhaps the Plug the Disco mix is actually toning it down. The first half of the Plug The Disco remix has that creepy Michael Jackson/Justin Timberlake male pop star feel to it, but midway through the vocoder is brought out and the track progresses into a non-stop disco-electro-house mix. “Ladykillers,” much like The Similou’s other work, has a dual personality. Often at times it seems very commercial and radio friendly. And then it surprises you by tugging at the underground.

The Similou - “Ladykillers” (Plug the Disco Remix)

The Similou’s So Hot Right Now is in stores now.

Purchase: iTunes | Amazon

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