Tayisha Busay returns with the full-length FOCUS/VIRUS. The New York-based trio specializes in their own brand of louche dancehall pop, epitomized by the standout track "WTF You Doin In My Mouth" on their debut EP Shock-Woo! (QRO review). With the new album Tayisha Busay makes a case for themselves as more than just a dirty joke. Not that there’s anything wrong with a good dirty joke.
Title-ish track "Focus" is the real club barnburner of the album. Laser-guided Mission Impossible synths swirl in time with a woozy chorus & pulsing beats. Tayisha Busay has always been known for the dance party atmosphere of their live shows – "Focus", "Nothing’s Happening", and "Bashy Face" let you bring the party home.
Click here for photos of Tayisha Busay at Glasslands in Brooklyn, NY on February 17th, 2012 in the QRO Concert Photo Gallery
Click here for photos of Tayisha Busay at 2010 Northside in the QRO Concert Photo Gallery
It wouldn’t be a Tayisha Busay production without a few gag songs. Oddball "Covered Wagon" seems half-intended as a straightforward pop confection (it certainly pops at the end), but struggles to find a center. The slap bass, slo-mo vox, throwback old skool rhyming pulls the track back to the urban pop postures of the 1980s with mixed results. The comic chutzpah of "Oops, Sorry!" hits the target more soundly: some quick & dirty haterade against wallflowers making like statues on the dance floor. Think-piece "TXTING" pokes some fun at the desperate souls who live half their life staring at a smartphone.
Occasionally a song like "Heartmeat/Lovemuscle" reminds you how far Tayisha Busay have come since their debut EP. A minimal electro ditty that shows the band accomplishing with a light touch what would have required more heavy lifting on Shock-Woo!. The quasi-gospel R&B outro vocal harmonies are gorgeous, and show what the group is capable of when all pistons are firing. FOCUS/VIRUS is peppered with those little moments that blossom too briefly. Tayisha Busay is still finding its voice, but with material this fun, you’re willing to let go and just enjoy the adventure.
MP3 Stream: "Heartmeat Lovemuscle"
