For some, classic rock radio isn't enough of a nostalgia trip back to the '70s. For those people, there's the Disco Biscuits' Señor Boombox, an album that mixes such disparate "Have a Nice Day"-decade genres as jammy rock and disco into one piece, as if they weren't, like, totally different things. The opener, "Hope," floats like a butterfly with its mellow, bong-hitting vibe and breezy flute hook. It's followed by -- surprise -- a song actually called "Float Like a Butterfly," though this one is a dancefloor-friendly disco rocker. This see-sawing act continues throughout the disc's 12 tracks -- disco to rock, disco to rock -- and the Biscuits actually create a pretty intriguing and original mix in the process. The lyrics are the kind of druggy fare that you'd expect ("Hope is a generation/Bang your head in the car/And what is the root of fantasy/Lay your bet on a star," sings frontman Jon Gutwillig in "Hope II"). The problem, of course, is that Señor Boombox has a way of highlighting the inherently irritating aspects of both of these genres, making it a difficult listen for even the most open-minded fans. Finding an audience for this should be even harder: since Allman Brothers fans were the ones with "Disco Sucks" bumper stickers back in the day, those who actually lived through the '70s are probably going to stay away in droves. Those who didn't, however, may view the disco for what it is (don't laugh) and realize that these two enemies can be friends. After all, didn't many disco singles last a quarter of an hour? That's a perfect amount of time to squeeze in an extended jam -- that is, if you're into that kind of thing.
Jason Damas