Zambri burst onto the scene in 2009 with "Easier," one of that year's most ear-catching songs. Pairing electro-pop thrills the likes of which hadn't been heard since
the Tom Tom Club or
Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with a dark industrial-tinged pulse, Jessica and Cristi Jo Zambri and crew had crafted a sound that was as distinctive as it was appealing. Then they seemingly disappeared, only to resurface two years later with the
Glossolalia EP, which polarized the sisters' twin obsessions with pop confectionery and moody experiments. That trend continues on
Zambri's full-length debut,
House of Baasa. While nothing is as boldly alchemical as "Easier," there are some moments that hint at that brilliance, such as the strangely fraught but nonetheless catchy "ICBYS"; "Places," which with its sparkly synths and overabundance of effects-heavy filigrees, suggests a more feminine
TV on the Radio; and "Hundred Hearts," a lush, synth-driven interlude full of abstract sensuality and longing.
Zambri venture into less structured territory on "From the Starts," which lets orchestral dissonance overtake the song's innocent words and melody with an almost
Lynchian surreality, and "You'll Never Beat Dogs" has an exotic sway to its rhythm underscoring that Jessica and Cristi Jo Zambri have ideas and potential to burn. ~ Heather Phares