Devil's Music (2011)

So you probably already knew this (I'm behind on everything as always), but it turns out the Teddybears have been a band for more than 20 years with deep roots in Swedish grindcore/death metal. Now those old impulses seem relegated to elements such as titles or maybe themes (e.g., "Devil's Music" feat. ADL, or "Cisum Slived," which reminds me happily of the mentality of Miles Davis circa Live Evil). I must say nonetheless the Teddybears do not strike me as the least bit evil in any way. I would not have even begun to guess the roots from this or the previous album (Soft Machine, 2006), which are a lot closer to product from the Silicon Teens (with star power) than Carcass. By star power I'm talking about the various "feat." guests on display—Robyn, Eve, B.o.B., Flaming Lips, Cee Lo Green, B-52's, etc.—which mostly seem to me irrelevant. I note the heavy Flaming Lips vibe because I know it already. I wouldn't necessarily have picked out the B-52's on my favorite song here, "Cho Cha," an appreciation of a pet cat, but recognizing it's Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson singing doesn't hurt anything. More to the point, the parade of guests does nothing to obscure the overriding unifying vision of the project, which seems on the usual errand of many great albums: having a real good time. You can complain that it amounts to little more than lightweight techno grooves and pop music gestures, but even if you do, I can only respond, "You say that like it's a bad thing." "Cardiac Arrest" is their turn with countryman Robyn and it should have been a hit if it wasn't. "Get Mama a House" makes me want to stand up and jump about the place and I appreciate the sentiment about doing right by one's mother too. "Cho Cha" (so clearly the B-52's playing, now that I know) is funny and tender about the affection between pet and caretaker, soaring on precisely that in the chorus. The instrumentals are good too. Because I happen to love the way this album insists so single-mindedly on the simple pleasures and joys of a dance groove, boppy tunes, and cool beats, I'm left to conclude that I must recommend it, even as I set it on repeat for awhile, till I'm tired of it for another day.