Flawless: New York house trio the Ones prove that looking good is only half the battle

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THE ONES

The Ones

A TOUCH OF CLASS

AS ANYONE WHO HAS EVER STUMBLED out of an after-hours club into Monday morning sunlight can attest, making the transition from the New York City underground to the real world is a rough business. Those "Deep House Dish" sketches on Saturday NightLive are funny for good reason: History is lousy with club kids who made lederhosen and a lunch box look chic but couldn't carry a tune across the road. Even beloved acts like Deee-Lite and RuPaul are still one-hit wonders by VH1 standards.

The Ones undoubtedly know this. Either individually or collectively, the members of this New York trio--Paul Alexander, JoJo Americo, and Nashom Wooden--have worked with A-list dance producers such as Danny Teneglia and Peter Rauhofer. All three Ones are also seasoned nightlife fixtures and former employees of the Patricia Field boutique, so looking fierce comes naturally; on their album cover Alexander works a little-drummer-boy look that could turn Grace Jones green with envy.

Collaborating with A Touch of Class, the team and label that originally signed and put out Scissor Sisters, the Ones have concocted an intoxicating sound that marries vintage synth pop with subterranean dance grooves. Loaded with walloping beats and ear-tweaking FX, these 11 tracks seem aimed at audiences who think of the Sound Factory, not Paradise Garage, as "the good old days," yet they recognize how essential catchy melodies and lyrical hooks are to protracted staying power--in any era.

Indeed, some of these cuts have been making the rounds for years. "Flawless," with its insistent six-note keyboard riff and grown-up nursery rhymes, was originally a top 10 U.K. pop hit in 2001. (George Michael would retrofit it for a ho-hum 2004 single of his own.) It and "Superstar" could still play the provinces.

The best new bits here have legs for days too. "I Feel Upside Down" cherry-picks tidbits from vintage crossover jams by the Clash, Talking Heads, and Spandau Ballet, with chanted vocal cadences and a funky bass line emphasizing the two and four rather than the downbeat. Elsewhere, the spacey crooning and punchy backing harmonies of "When We Get Together" prove the trio vocally capable of more than just droll incantation.

If this album has a weak spot, it lies not in content or presentation but timing. The sounds and scene celebrated in "Ultramodern," a mishmash of rock, rap, and house aimed at "different kinds of people," is no longer as cutting-edge as it was when LCD Soundsystem broke through; would that ATOC had been as quick to strike as their peers at DFA. C'est lavie. The Ones may not be perfect, but they still sound flawless.

COPYRIGHT 2008 LPI Media
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning