Bit late on this, but it’s not like it’s cracked the Hot 100 yet, so we’re still ahead of certain curves…

[Video][Website]
[5.73]
Andrew Casillas: Combining the bouncy electronic-influenced rock of their early efforts with the minimalist lyrical approach of their more recent work, “Microdancing” is a piece of highly accessible, but not entirely weightless, melodic pop. The backing track glides by for 100 seconds, until it restarts and builds slowly and slowly towards a frivolous yet joyous finale. Babasonicos is one of the most venerable bands in all of Latin America, and this track is a clear example why.
[9]
David Raposa: Turgid and twerpy electro-fetishizing “rock” tune from the ninth album by this long-running Argentinian group. According to the Wikipedia posting on Argentinian rock, Babasonicos were endemic of a “more confrontational guitar-led rock” alternative to what was popular during the late ’80s and early ’90s. If this was the alternative, I would’ve gladly kowtowed to the status quo. On the plus side, I guess Saffron & other members of Republica can take solace in knowing that some folks haven’t sold back their best-of just yet.
[3]
Hazel Robinson: Why is it cute when people do this in other languages, when I’d probably throw stuff at an English-language band for doing it? I assume it’s the fact I can’t understand the doubtlessly annoying lyrics but either way, this is irresistably adorable. Although that is partly because it sounds like he’s saying “necromancy” rather than “microdancing”.
[7]
Alex Wisgard: Like a slightly more considered take on Alphabeat, Babasonicos go straight for the pop jugular. Sadly, the track’s let down by some pretty shoddy production; the chorus is hooky as fuck, but doesn’t explode so much as just… appear, and the less said about the cod-metal middle 8, the better.
[6]
Dave Moore: At turns cheesy and electroclashy, always nerdy, they fidget around trying to find a satisfying hook in the song’s disparate parts. And they don’t, really, but it’s entertaining enough. Part of me wants it to be a 10-minute Fiery Furnaces-style noodle-pop song suite experiment — that’s the part that also recognizes that the chorus makes the singer sound like a cross between They Might Be Giants and Borat.
[6]
Doug Robertson: And that was three minutes of… well, what exactly? Filler music of the most dispiriting kind, with about as much grab as a pair of Vaseline doused mittens.
[3]
Hillary Brown: Dang it. There’s only enough time for microdancing due to this intermittently adorable song’s tendency to take breaks that are far less danceable than the groovy chorus.
[6]
Jonathan Bradley: Sometimes micro means minimalist; here it suggests a deficiency. “Microdancing” is a jumble of quite interesting ideas with very little connecting them, and the whole thing ends up rather inert, albeit pleasantly so. I suspect if Phoenix were in charge, they would have insisted on an ever-so-slightly scuffed up guitar-line to give the tune a bit of life and direction. Putting Phoenix in charge often works out well, you know.
[6]
Additional Scores
Martin Kavka: [5]
Ian Mathers: [7]
Martin Skidmore: [5]
Leave a Reply