Keep Your Distance

Mildly entertaining blue-eyed pop funk from Britain, Curiosity Killed the Cat had hits with "Misfit," "Free," and "Down to Earth," all represented here (the latter's video being one of the last things Andy Warhol directed). Vocalist Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot has as limited a range and tone as his contemporary chart-mate Rick Astley, but doesn't push himself too far and is at least backed up by a flesh 'n' blood band, who (sometimes) come alive on such tracks as "Ordinary Day" and "Misfit." But the lyrics are bland as pudding, the music often plods along, and with a host of different producers divvying up the tracks, the album never really coheres. What was it that Warhol said again about 15 minutes? ~ Ted Mills