Sofi Tukker are purveyors of a good time, and they give little to make you think otherwise. During lockdown they held regular livestreams so as to keep in touch with their fans and promote friendship, love and connection through a time people couldn’t gather in clubhouses. They make music for the dancefloor, for the summer pool parties, for times with friends. They are equal parts goofy as they are serious connoisseurs of their genre; too light hearted to be snobbish, and acute in their execution to be considered sloppy. Their last album WET TENNIS was a nonsense snag that had a serious acronym behind it (“When Everyone Tries to Evolve, Nothing Negative Is Safe”), which kind of encapsulates what Sofi Tukker are all about.
The duo (made up of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern) follow suit with their new album. BREAD (“Be Really Energetic And Dance”) is an ode to unrestrained movement aiming for no place other than the dancefloor. Giving greater focus to Brazilian brass and Latinx influences, it’s an album of high octane dance music that wears itself out far too quickly and, like a potent drug, is best consumed in small doses so as not to dilute the best effects. Unlike the title perhaps suggests, Sofi Tukker aren’t the carbs as much as they are the high fructose chocolate spread smeared on it – sometimes with sprinkles thrown on for good measure.
Even at its dorkiest, the highs are still fun as hell. “Throw Some Ass” is an age-old lyrical format, and its derrière-heavy references are about as far away from insightful as you expect from the song’s title. “Throw some ass, free the mind,” Hawley-Weld chimes to a doctor figure, trying to create a new mantra. It’s stupid and maybe even a little cringeworthy, but the serious-as-hell delivery assures you that the duo are all in. (Just try out the video – which features many a pair of assless chaps – if you aren’t convinced.) Similarly the opening title track boasts an unexpected sex-positive hook (“I get off, you get out, I eat bread”) over shuffling rhythms, Portuguese incantations aplenty, and Spanish acoustic guitar licks. Again, too much critical thought ruins the fun, and as small slices of what Sofi Tukker do, they slake the thirst any fan should have.
And there are other offerings that are strong in themselves: “Cafuné”, with its fuzzy brassy tone and a slinky (albeit unanswered) take from Channel Tres feels like the height of a party; “Jacaré” is a fun time with sunny salsa piano and more jazzy horns, even if it ends all too soon; and “Woof” (reworked from a house banger in early livestreams and Just Dance) has Hawley-Weld showing off her multilingual skills and features a guest spot from Kah-Lo that fixes your attention dead centre. Each track is a welcome addition to Sofi Tukker’s catalogue, and they will no doubt help ignite the dancefloor in a live setting.
But together and as a whole, somehow BREAD stumbles and stutters. The energy comes and goes, and the whole thing feels like a party they arrived late for and are continuously trying to re-energise. Unlike their live lockdown sets or live show, there’s a distinct lack of flow present here. It’s not helped by middling tracks that are full of generic vacuous lyrics and that are sustained by catchy guitar riffs that are carrying much more weight than they should be. “Guardian Angel (Stand By You)” and “Spiral” put electroswing swagger and Europop strobelight synths respectively to the forefront, but their by-the-numbers instrumental sections shouldn’t be the highlight. “Hey Homie” is honeyed and lighter in tone compared to the rest of the tracklist, but its greatest achievement is that it’s probably the sweetest song you’ll hear about being friendzoned.
For fans of Sofi Tukker, how BREAD will go down will depend on how they consume the duo’s music. In small doses it’ll bring smiles and get feet moving, but every time you try to take it in as a whole, something feels off. The album’s short 35 minute runtime should serve it favours, but often feels like missed opportunities to not let good grooves stretch out and instead let goofy ideas take the driving wheel. This feels like par for the band though. Pump the music, fill the space, and let the details take care of themselves. On record though, what’s missing often feels more prominent than what we get.
