Love Song Surprise
Static Revenger
Adrenaline Records
Who knew Britney Spears had such good taste? If press releases (and, so I'm told, an episode of the pop star's former reality show Chaotic) are reliable sources, then it turns out that Spears selected Static's song "Sweetest Day" for her wedding with The Celebutard Formerly Known as K-Fed. Like that blushing bride's life, Love Song Surprise is simultaneously beautiful and sad, melodic and haunting; it is a Valentine for those perennially unlucky in love and life. Static (aka DJ/Producer Dennis White) choo-choo-chooses electronic backbeats to provide a solid, artful spine for a body of work that is ultimately about the heart. There's the angst of "No. 1 Fan," the melancholy resilience of "Life Carries On," and the embarrassing earnestness of "Love." White deftly balances all the musical elements that capture lovesickness at its hippest, chill-est and illest. But there's also the healthy ebullience of "Satellite," a whirlwind of cosmic joy that captures the warm, heart-racing excitement of a stolen kiss. Aw, shucks.