The Santogold stuff along with J*Davey and Janelle Monáe I find pretty thin. I can’t quite put my finger on it but there is something disingenuous about what they do. I can understand the desire of black folks of a certain age to want a subcultural adolescence outside of hip hop and soul. I also see many people find these eighties aesthetics so appealing (many of us felt left out or too insecure to be involved at the time). However, Grace Jones, Fishbone, The Untouchables, Prince etc. already did this stuff thoroughly, in context and fully valid. These groups are too heavily style and fashion centric and come off a bit like a new wave karaoke costume drama and a high end talent show with an African-American twist. Not that everything has to be completely new and ground breaking but an attempt would be nice.