Psapp is the London duo of Carim Clasmann and Galia Durant, who turn out a nicely tweaked version of the ubiquitous male electronic producer with female vocalist template. Clasmann makes some ingenious beats that pop and squeak and flurble along with cartoony dynamism, but while they seem at first to be so engrossing that they'll carry the songs single-handedly, on much of Psapp's new album, "The Only Thing I Ever Wanted," the beats end up being just too busy, too unremittingly clever and dense, and become grating. The music works better when they chill on the beats and focus a bit more on melody and mood, as on the lovely single "Tricycle," which maintains some of Clasmann's spiky charm without so completely overshadowing Durant's nicely understated singing. There's a sweet claymation video for the song, directed by Thorsten Levin, here.
-- T.B.
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