Welcome to Random Music Review January (RMRJ. Pronounced: RMRJ.), where I try to randomly grab one album or compilation per day from my huge CD collection and write a quick review of it.
Let’s see how long I’ll be able to do it.
It happened to all of us. We buy an album based on one song and while we listen to it, it turns out that this particular song had no business being on the album, since the rest of it is so completely different! It’s not even necessarily bad. Just different.
DA ALBUM, the first and only album from Da Muttz, is one of those cases.
To get this out of the way: It’s really cool! But that’s probably not what you were expecting from their one hit WASSUUP, a silly mash-up of Rick James’ SUPERFREAK/MC Hammer’s U CAN’T TOUCH THIS and the Budweiser WHASSUUUUUUP commercial.
No, DA ALBUM is actually really well made House music, with a grain of Big Beat.
There is something weird about the dance music of the early 2000s. I often say that it was boring, because it just seemed so aimless. As if everybody was just half-assing things and treading water until the next really big thing showed up. Big Beat and the generally more quirky and alternative branch of dance music was falling out of favor with the public. There still was some innovation, but that was quickly pushed back into the nightly slots of radio stations and music channels. House became pure formula. Some edge-free Pop Trance became slowly the more popular sound on the radios. And the clubs were totally into equally boring Minimal sound. Most compilations from that time haven’t aged well at all. But looking back, it wasn’t all bad.
Daft Punk mixed innovation with Top 40 appeal on their 2nd album DISCOVERY and reached superstardom. Fatboy Slim’s HALFWAY BETWEEN THE GUTTER & THE STARS’ more House-ish approach confused everybody who was hoping for another YOU’VE COME A LONG WAY, BABY, but in the end it’s his 2nd best album, with a few of his most popular tracks. Armand van Helden admitted to being kinda lazy at that time, yet KILLING PURITANS and GHANDI KHAN are still one hell of a one-two punch, that actually squeezed some life out of House music. Groove Armada’s LOVEBOX is IMO their best album. Oakenfold’s BUNKKA proved that Trance doesn’t have to be boring. German Hip Hop acts went into their electronic music side hustle with the debuts of International Pony, La Boom and Turntablerocker. There was Mr Scruff’s TROUSER JAZZ, Felix Da Housecat’s KITTENZ & THEE GLITZ and DEVIN DAZZLE & THE NEON FEVER plus really cool albums under his Aphrohead and Rocketmann aliases. And of course The Avalanches dropped SINCE I LEFT YOU.
And these are just the better known releases that I randomly remembered! I’m sure if I wouldn’t be such a lazy fuck right now, I would find some more gems from that era.
One of them is DA ALBUM.
The opener D.A.M.U.T.T.Z. (ALL OF YOU ARE CRAZY HEADS) already has some unexpected Miami Bass/early 80s electro rap vibes, but thanks to its high pitched catchphrase lyrics still feels pretty much in line with what you think will be on here. Track #2, COULD YOU BE THE ONE (THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY) might make your jaw drop though. This is one damn cool Disco Vocal House track that doesn’t have to hide behind any of the more iconic songs from that time like GROOVEJET, POINT OF VIEW, AT NIGHT or STARLIGHT.)
The next track DA NITTY GRITTY takes us from the 70s to the 60s. I guess it just the vibe of that sound, but it wouldn’t feel out of place on a Big Beat compilation. It’s another groovy Vocal House banger. We are just three tracks in and already deeply in „Oh, this is not a silly comedy album“ territory.
I admit, now I am getting a bit too lazy for a full blow track-by-track review. But let me say this:
DA ALBUM is criminally underrated! This longplayer oozes fun and coolness. You get breakbeats, cool samples, Disco House, Vocal House,“just“ House, some French Touch, surf guitar riffs, Heavy Metal riffs and so much more. This is everything you want from a dance music album!
Now don’t get me wrong. This is really not a groundbreaking piece of music. As cool as it is, it doesn’t re-invent the wheel. The two albums that I would compare it to are R U SHAKADELIC by Santos, also released in 2001, and the aforementiond HALFWAY BETWEEN THE GUTTER AND THE STARS. Probably more Santos than Fatboy. But the cooler corner of dance music had around that time a certain sound that you absolutely can find here. I could point at single tracks and say „Yeah, that one sounds like this.“ A bit of Supermen Lovers, a bit of Wackside, a bit of Junior Jack, a bit of Headrillaz, etc.
The only actually 100% unique track is indeed WASSUUP.
That makes me think. Maybe the reason why DA ALBUM landed with a thud wasn’t WASSUPP, but instead that it failed to really stand out. Sometimes being great isn’t enough. You also have to be unique. Is there a chance that I wouldn’t have liked it on release? Is it maybe more fun in 2025 (Well, 2026), when it is a nostalgic relic of a kind of sound that is sadly missed today?
Eh, it doesn’t matter. DA ALBUM will make you shake your booty. If you find it for cheap on eBay, Discogs or the thrift store of your choice, don’t think about it and get it! I paid 3,99€ and would’ve paid more if I had known how much I would actually enjoy it.