I felt like at first - encountering Tuxedo - that I had run into a photocopy of Chromeo. I guess you could call them that, and seeing Mayer has done a lot of work with the guys from Chromeo, it might even be an apt comparison.
(Despite the semi-disparaging title of this blog post, I actually don't think they're that bad! And that's not because I'm a Mayer Hawthorne fan).
Tuxedo is half Mayer, half Jake One (a celebrated producer in his own right). They make very, very, VERY '80s-heavy funk. They released their debut self-titled album last month.
"Do It" is a pretty strong single, and "Number One" is fairly decent, even if it's kind of sickeningly cheesy at times. I feel like you'd expect to hear "Number One" at someone's wedding in 1987, after everyone has drank way too much Schnapps and Grandma has started grinding with the priest.
My major takeaway from my crash course through their album is Tuxedo had the right intentions, and definitely has the right sound, but it's easy for one song to bleed into the other. Similarly, it's hard to tell the filler from the stronger stuff. I'd say if they put out a sophomore album, it would be more sharp and addictive than this one.
That's not saying tracks like "Do It" aren't fun; they sure are! And I get the sense a Tuxedo live show would be amazing. But I wouldn't recommend giving this album more than a handful of listens.
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