Coolmixes

Anyone who's ever prepared a bubbly drink for a patio party while listening to Esquivel (or one of the endless series of Ultra Lounge comps from the mid-'90s) will know precisely where Tipsy's coming from. This playful modern group uses all the sonic cues of classic lounge and exotica music--popping-popcorn rhythms, string arrangements set on "tickle," tiki-surf guitars, and interjections of "Zow!" that sound as if they were sung by people in well-tailored suits. But Tipsy are keenly aware that this music's kitsch factor went out of hipster fashion about five years ago--the same time that their great debut, "Trip Tease," got lost in the ironic-lounge avalanche. So here they move beyond the (squeeze) cheese factor and craft infectiously upbeat songs that stand just fine on their own, from the sunnily propulsive "Papaya Highway" to the spy-themed "Swallowtail." And in a nod to today's electronica mayhem makers and yesterday's psychedelic popsters, they insert disorienting sound effects at every other turn. (See the blender-collaged "Hey!") Forget the retro-revival factor; Uh-Oh is a perkily distracting good time in any era. --Lisa Gidley

14.98