On Phone Call's "Hang-Ups," the Electro-Soul Production Is Seductive, but the Connection Is Shaky

By Dom Sinacola

[RHYTHM & RUSE] On the space-time continuum between Zapp & Roger and Fatboy Slim, between Hall & Oates and Junior Boys, squats the duo known as Phone Call, staking out everything that could be described as rhythmic or bluesy in the past 3½ decades of pop music. On their debut, Hang-Ups, Bailey Winters and John Zeigler—formerly of beloved Portland disco revivalists Strength—dial in their take on PBR&B, swaggering through sanded-down, crooned-up mid-2000s electro-soul as seductively as talkboxed-'til-death goth-funk, sounding in equal measure like Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes, George Michael and the leather-daddy skeezes behind Justice. Produced by Jeremy Sherrer, the record is a deep, tactile listen, but there's something distancing about it. Namely, it's hard to tell whether these guys are being ironic and playing a part, or whether they believe that paying homage to Prince's genre-breaking soul-funk is just a matter of being frank about "the way that she fucks" rather than decimating gender politics and breaking Top 40 pop in a truly subversive way. Regardless, played for jokes or not, little here is funny—which works when you're dancing, but otherwise, it's a missed call.

SEE IT: Phone Call plays Local Cut at Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., with Fringe Class, Rasheed Jamal and DJ Lamar Leroy, on Thursday, Oct. 13. 8:30 pm. Free. 21+.

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