Ace Of Base

Look, it’s not as if Ace of Base chose to come from Sweden. So keep those pathetically easy, inaccurately dismissive ABBA comparisons to yourself. These particular northerners were jaded club rats, not bubblegum Scandi-naifs. Jonas “Joker” Berggren and Ulf “Buddha” Ekberg’s seemingly benign Eurodisco thump was actually full of moody undertones; their plastic textures were pristine rather than antiseptic; and their synthetic skank was surprisingly club-wise. And they wrote “The Sign,” the wisest, catchiest, most triumphant kiss-off since “I Will Survive.”

On the debut disc, an Ennio Morricone–style keyboard whistle marks the welfare-state cautionary tale “All That She Wants.” (Dig the “Bhangra Version,” though.) “Don’t Turn Around” is a logical impossibility—a funky Diane Warren song!—made reality. And if the group wasn’t above feigning airheadedness (one lyric has siblings Jenny and Linn Berggren cooing “Kiss me baby, I’m attractive”), you could always spy the smirk underneath.

Though now out-of-print Lucky Love was an adequate followup, the palpable desperation audible in Ace of Base’s “Cruel Summer” cover was commercial, not sexual. Greatest Hits will net you some fine house mixes and Motown fabrications. (KEITH HARRIS)