Felix da Housecat does Devo

Admittedly, I have never been a huge fan of Felix da Housecat. As often as I have owned up to liking bucket-loads of cheesy music, Felix da Housecat borders on just a little too cheesy, even for my tastes. His music is like a sharp cheddar that has been aged for four years, whereas I prefer a cheddar that has been aged for just two or possibly three years.

That being said, Felix da Housecat's latest release Virgo Blaktro & The Movie Disco is a fun little album. The main downfall of the record? It just seems rather short. There are several skits (something I have never been a fan of) and several songs (or perhaps, interludes) that fall short of not only the three minute mark, but the forty second mark as well. Felix Stallings has sited Virgo Blaktro & The Movie Disco as being "a sexy, black, electronic disco record". As a worshiper of Giorgio Moroder, I can't help but notice the obvious influence his Italo Disco mastery had on this album, particularly on the track 'Night Tripperz'. The last time I checked, Giorgio Moroder was pretty far from being black, or sexy for that matter. Actually, never mind. Giorgio Moroder is totally hot.

What I really want to talk about is 'Sweetfrosti'. As I gave Virgo Blaktro & The Movie Disco a first listen, 'Sweetfrosti' immediately caught my attention. I automatically recognized the Devo song 'Snowball'. I was completely and utterly confused for several moments. First I thought to myself, 'Is this track sampling Devo?' No, the entire song is pretty much an exact copy. My second thought was, 'Is this a Devo cover?' No, the lyrics are different, so it can't really be considered a cover. Well, what is it then? I suppose that 'Sweetfrosti' could simply be defined as Felix Stallings' homage to Devo.

I hated 'Sweetfrosti' at first. All I could think was, 'Why would anyone take a seminal Devo song and turn it into something called 'Sweetfrosti' of all things?' Still, something has to be said for the fact that I've had 'Sweetfrosti' stuck in my head for several days now. If anything, Felix da Housecat confirms for us that Devo's music still sounds amazing nearly thirty years later. While 'Snowball' isn't one of Devo's most well known songs, it is by far one of their best. Hopefully listeners will realize that those awesome 'early 80's inspired synthesizers' actually are from the early 80's and are in fact, not a product of Felix da Housecat (as monumental as he may be).

Felix da Housecat's Virgo Blaktro & The Movie Disco is definitely worth checking out. Pick up a copy at Insound. While you're at it, why not pick up Devo's classic Freedom of Choice as well?

Give a listen to both Sweetfrosti AND Snowball.

Felix da Housecat - Sweetfrosti (zshare)

Devo - Snowball (zshare)