Whip It Baby!

$2.99

Boston's Lovewhip dedicate themselves to finding the spot where African, Jamaican and Latin music meet for dancing and drinks on their latest album Whip It Baby! With bouncy African juju music as the stylistic base, the band adds elements of ska, dancehall and Afro-Cuban dance musics into a stew whose aroma is irresistible to anyone with a taste for music outside that box labeled "safe, homogenized pop." Not that the songs are particularly challenging, mind you?there's not a sharp edge to be found here, and singer/guitarist Erin Harpe and bassist Jim Countryman write the kind of songs no one will mistake for Bob Dylanesque profundities. They do pay some attention to lyrical craftsmanship, however, and besides, lyrical depth is quite beside the point with songs this buoyant. The lilting melodies and itchyfoot rhythms matter most here, and Whip It's eight songs are stuffed full of them. Who needs 4/4 time to shake hips? For fans of: Paul Simon's Graceland, King Sunny Ade, Ozomatli