One might not expect the coordinates of disco, lounge, funk, and elevator music to elicit a comfortable pop connoisseur out of the safe, cool shade of Spex Magazine. The Berlin-by-way-of-Israel band Hush Moss actually wrote these words on the reverses of their (here we go) silk shirts. They do so many other things abominably wrong that all of these wrongs slowly begin to form one amazing right: “Soulful” and “sultry” are the two terrifying adjectives that come at the beginning of their own description of their music. The singer of the one-to-ten-person band only allows white tennis socks on stage, and the intro to “It Takes a Lot” undoubtedly recalls the theme song to the TV series Alf. As it goes, there’s also saxophone playing involved. The revival of the smooth, yacht-pop of the 70s was foreshadowed by the success of the “Too Slow to Disco” compilations as well as the lauded past appearances of artists like Olivier Heim at this very festival. You might have the impulse to ask the band yourself where and when it is, exactly, that the borders between subversion, seriousness, and satire break down. On the other hand, you might consider simply enjoying it—with a Piña Colada, for example. 

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