Danity Kane. Strange name, surprisingly good album By Lauren Carter  Thursday, October 5, 2006

When you pop in Danity Kane's self-titled debut album, you expect a lot of things. You expect run of the mill melodies. You expect a couple of singles padded with fluff and filler. You expect an album that is basically a pit stop on a quick trip to obscurity, the same trip made by previous "Making the Bands" O-Town and Da Band.

Apparently, obscurity wasn't on Diddy's agenda this time around. That could explain why it took him two seasons to choose the five ladies that would comprise Danity Kane--Aubrey, Aundrea, D. Woods, Dawn, and Shannon. That could also explain why instead of being a recycled interpretation of the typical pop formula, the album is an unexpected twist on a genre not exactly known for breaking ground.

Things do start off somewhat predictably with the Eastern-tinged "One Shot," a semi-interesting way of asking "can you handle this?” to any males who might be listening.

The album picks up speed on "Heartbreaker," a catchy, guitar-driven number with a totally unexpected, '80s-inspired dance interlude. Again, the subject matter isn't exactly groundbreaking (on this song the ladies indicate that indeed, you cannot handle this) but the song is a tight pop package, and the interlude is an added bonus.

By the time the trance-oriented "Want It" rolls around, you understand just what it means to be working with Diddy's checkbook. The song is produced by Timbaland, who also contributes "Right Now" (excellent track, way too much moaning and heavy breathing throughout).

Timbaland is just one of a host of top-shelf producers recruited to work on the project, including Bryan-Michael Cox, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Ryan Leslie (who produced Cassie's "Me & U") and Scott Storch, who surprisingly contributes one of the weaker tracks on the album in "Sleep On It."

Overall, the album’s producers manage to capture the group's essence in their tracks. They draw on influences ranging from the tribal to the electronic to bring a slightly surreal quality to the music, which falls in line with the group's embodiment of a female superhero, for which they're named. Cheesy concept? Maybe. Hot production? Definitely.

Now vocally, things get interesting. Danity Kane doesn't have a lead singer, and really, they couldn't. (Dawn probably comes the closest to holding this title.) The group members range from competent to very good in the singing department, but none of them seems to be lead singer material, which works for the format of the layered vocal arrangements. Which, by the way, are incredible.

The cascading choruses and swirling interludes make up for every strained high note ("Hold Me Down") and every solo that just misses (there are several). When coupled with production that's far left of a dull pop center, the vocal arrangements make this album.

The album's one major misstep is "Press Pause," for which you'll most likely "Press Skip." The song tries to be fun and flirty but comes off mostly fruity and annoying.

Cuts like "Show Stopper," however, the album's first single and a smart choice to capitalize on the popularity of snap music, make up for that wrong turn. The song is basically an exercise in "look at how good we look," but truthfully, the ladies do look good, and surprisingly, they made a good album, so we can cut them a little slack.

Overall:

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Danity Kane. Strange name, surprisingly good album - 10/05/2006