When first we met Wallpaper. in 2005, the project was Eric Frederic’s way of making earnest, artful music while satirizing the lack of genuine sentiment in mainstream pop. Then, the music was composed on computers and the lyrics were delivered strictly in Auto-Tune (almost
unheard of at the time), further emphasizing the sterility of hackneyed song themes.

In the four years since, as Wallpaper.’s become a genuine phenomenon via three well-loved EPs and an unforgettable live show, Auto-Tune has fittingly become one of the most widespread and maligned facets of modern radio. The music of Doodoo Face is a significant step forward for Wallpaper. As established by his recent “live-band remixes” for Passion Pit and Das Racist, Frederic’s become ace at merging the organic into the electronic.

These are huge beats with infinite intricacy – the perfect tribute to Frederic’s oldest influences: P-Funk, Afrobeat, and the panoply of Bay Area rap. You’ll hear strains of Justice too, and even Eno in the minimalist pop of “Fine GF.” But one needn’t know any of this to “get” Wallpaper. Just as it thrives under scrutiny, Doodoo Face bangs at face value, and the record’s title is a reference to that: a contorted expression inspired by discovering something unbelievably funky. From the cavernous thump and honking sax of opener “Indecent” to the warped hyphy of “ddd” to “Doodoo Face” itself, this is dark, nasty, load-bearing booty funk of the Oakland house party variety.