Listening to an EP is usually a lot like dating a Mormon – no matter how much fun the thing is, just when you’re getting warmed up, it’s all over before you get to the payoff. But Rotten in Denmark, the solo debut from Davey La, former lead singer of the Ambershades (you’ve never heard of them, which is probably the main reason why Davey’s solo and some of his ex-bandmates are schlepping the globe with James Blunt), is more like a trial-size bag of Skittles – there’s a whole rainbow of bright pop flavors in here, but the portion size is small enough to keep you from gorging yourself on the sweetness (and, more importantly, to keep Davey La from tossing in a few clunkers to harsh your buzz). There’s nothing rotten (or appreciably Danish) about it, but fans of driving, guitar-based, hook-filled pop music will be too busy eating this up with a spoon to care. Davey’s got a perfectly elastic voice, a way with a hook, and his tongue planted firmly in his cheek; there’s no way in hell he’ll manage to keep up this kind of glorious momentum over a full-length LP, but no matter – we’ll always have Denmark. (LABEL: Nylo 2008)
