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Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins (Logic) (star) (star)
Brothers Ron and Russel Mael have been mixing mannered, arty pop with mannered, absurdist humor since 1971. Their first record in six years finds them continuing in an electronic dance-pop vein they first began mining with Georgio Moroder at the end of the ’70s. Aside from the operatic “I Thought I Told You to Wait in the Car,” however, the Maels’ dance beats aren’t particularly strong or insistent. Instead, the percolating, synthesized rhythm beds serve as a backdrop for self-consciously theatrical vocals. Songs such as “When Do I Get to Sing `My Way’ ” and “The Ghost of Liberace” pair movie-musical melodies with an obsessive preoccupation with show-business glamor, prestige and power. Clever, tuneful and well-constructed, this oddball material will probably please any fan of campy, ironic pop. Other listeners, however, may find it nothing more than a faintly amusing–or annoying–novelty record.
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