The Not-Pop Jukebox

I bumped into a remix of Blood Orange today, for which I didn't particularly care, but I thought I'd check out the band after the glowing reviews of them on the page. I'm so glad I did. They're like slipping on a comfortable coat, instantly familiar and cozy. But as I listened to Forget It I found myself increasingly reminded of another song: Oingo Boingo's Not My Slave.

Now, it could be the singer's proclamations that "I'm not your savior, baby girl" but somehow the two seem to go together. Not My Slave is so energetic that I tend to think of it as fast while Forget It has more of a lushly mellow feel to it. But I listened to the two back-to-back and discovered that, tempo-wise, they're pretty close. Lyrically, they're two different animals, with Blood Orange getting stingy with their words while, as usual, Danny Elfman wants to tell you a story.

I don't know if Blood Orange intended it, but they have a sort of 80s vibe to them, like Depeche Mode covering The Pet Shop Boys covering The Cure. Maybe it's the vocalist's voice, maybe it's the sparse music, maybe it's the keyboards. I don't know. I do know that I immediately went out and bought Forget It. Let me know what you think: are to two a match or am I full of malarkey?