Devin Dazzle And The Neon Fever

A technicolor blast that pairs hooky guitar and keyboard riffs with plenty of four on the floor beats and sing-along vocals.

A set of abrasively melodic pop songs. [May 2004, p.124]

[Its] Atari-quality grooves and soulless Berlin homages reek of '80s hipster trash. [4 June 2004, p.80]

Housecat isn't exactly reinventing the wheel; he's dusting it off and spray painting it electric blue. [#9, p.102]

Felix Da Housecat’s shift into the wastelands of punk- funk and No Wave has given ‘Devin Dazzle And The Neon Fever’ the feel of an excursion into virgin territory.

It's not as spiky or sleazy as 2001's superlative Kittenz And Thee Glitz... but this is shiny, addictive pop that's never lost for a good tune. [Jun 2004, p.114]

Felix da Housecat appears to have approached this record in the same manner as other pop craftsmen like Stephen Merritt or Elvis Costello might: as a tireless effort to mine sub-styles and hooks that populate his detail-oriented visions of the perfect song. While that might translate into a record that fails to sit totally comfortably in either the pop or dance section of the CD shop, it's hardly lacking in compositional substance or high-toned flash.

However, if 'Devin Dazzle And The Neon Fever' proves anything, it proves that Felix knows three years have passed since [Kittenz]. Now he's partying like it's 1984. It's a development of almost comical chutzpah, and it's one that he wears terrifically well.

It's ultimately too well-mannered and surprise-free. [Jun 2004, p.97]

Even more '80s than its predecessor. [Jul 2004, p.105]

Hyper-concept pseudo-narratives aside, Devin Dazzle is, in a word, shocking, where shocking = rocking and rocking = danceable and danceable = nuts and nuts = 80s kitsch-sex-funk-house-new-wave-punk-disco.

Half of the album sounds phoned-in and flat.

It's all a welcome change from dance-scene earnestness, and worth 48 minutes of anyone's time.

For such a musically potent album, it sometimes lacks something interesting to say.... But make no mistake; this is the most daring, catchy, and dramatic dance music you're going to hear this summer.

The sort of herky, jerky new wave Molly Ringwald might have bopped to in The Breakfast Club. [Jun 2004, p.95]