***1/2 Moloko

DO YOU LIKE MY TIGHT SWEATER

(Warner Bros.)

This headstrong Irish/English duo (featuring the saucy Róisín Murphy on vocals and partner Mark Brydon on everything else) take the lethargic angst of trip-hoppers like Tricky and Portishead, funk it up, yuk it up, and have one hell of a good time in the process. With new tricks around every corner, this imaginative first effort is bound to please even the most jaded electromusicologist. The music is complex, without taking itself too seriously or forgetting that the groove is holy. From the funky "Party Weirdo" and "Fun for Me" to the gloriously bizarre "Day for Night," "Dominoid," "Killer Bunnies," and "Where Is the What If the What Is in Why?", Do You Like My Tight Sweater is one of the more provocative genre-benders to come out since Tricky began his sonic assault on musical convention. In fact, they may have just one-upped him. Imagine George Clinton's Brides of Funkenstein backed by Kraftwerk and you're getting warm.

-- Brian Coleman