Disquiet

Nice Nice’s “Uh-Oh,” a free track posted on the Audraglint Records website to promote the group’s new EP, Yesss!, exemplifies how electronica never truly abandoned pop music. After the genre failed to fulfill the absurd projections of those who saw it overtaking rock and hip-hop in record stores, it simply went underground. And then it tunneled upward, through the feet of guitarists, drummers, bass players and many other pop music-makers. The music went from overt to covert, opting for infection instead of chart-storming onslaught. The addictive “Uh-Oh” (MP3) is dirty pop funk that’s utterly infected with electronics; no element here is saved from the torque of digital transformation, whether functional or imitative. And yet it sounds as retro as it does futuristic, like a lost track by Fear of Music-era Talking Heads. The rhythm is grimy, the vocals muffled, and flushes of flashy gutter synths fly through in unexpected formations. And this, of course, is the unmolested version of “U-Oh.” For the remix of this and other Nice Nice tracks by the likes of DJ Rupture, Caural and Stars as Eyes, check out Yesss!, due out tomorrow from Audraglint. More info at audraglint.com.

By Marc Weidenbaum