WHITE WOMEN

Named after a coffee table book from fashion photographer Helmut Newton, White Women is an equally titillating, prose-free, and '80s-embracing effort from Canadian electro-pop duo Chromeo, who are hitting their stride when it comes to hooks, although they arguably stumble when it comes to cute. Case in point is a light electro lark called "Sexy Socialite," an easy singalong candidate if "I could be your boyfriend and your counselor" and other cringe-worthy bits didn't drive the track off the cheeky cliff, but this minor speed bump is overshadowed by 11 other cuts that could have come from a Prince side project launched during the fruitful Purple Rain era. Finger-poppin' funk and Morris Day-styled come-ons like "What matters to me is what's inside/And a little backside too/Can I get a bird's eye view?" drive the cool swaying single "Over Your Shoulder" into highlight territory. "Come Alive" comes on strong with a popping bass and a guest appearance from Toro y Moi as it falls somewhere between the easy cool of DeBarge and the bright disco joy of Earth, Wind, & Fire. Speaking of guest appearances, Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig returns to croon the miniature bridge that's appropriately titled "Ezra's Interlude" while Solange appears on the great "Lost on the Way Home," an R. Kelly-styled love duet served with a touch of Kavinsky's sound, meaning 16-bit video game music and Reagan-era movie soundtracks. One iffy joke don't stop no show, so take White Women as fun, frivolous, and floor-filling stuff where that slick '80s flair is gloriously bolstered by that modern dancefloor punch. ~ David Jeffries