Jesse Rose – What Do You Do If You Don't?

For those who came in late, the track "Night at the Dogs" is actually a cover version of Moondog's "Bird's Lament". One can only speculate at the reason for changing the name.

Mr. Scruff's "Get a Move On" mentioned in scoundrel's earlier review, appears to sample Moondog's "Bird's Lament" but is not really a cover.

While there's certainly nothing wrong with club-oriented house, Jesse Rose, on WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU DON'T?, tries to carve out his own space. Too bad most of that space has already been occupied. Sure, the self-call out of "Forget My Name" (though with vocals from Joe Goddard, who later re-appears on a swooning "Day is Done") has a cheeky charm amongst the electro dribbling, but the blues sample on "Well Now" follows Moby's well-worn path. Even more egregiously, I liked "Night at the Dogs" much better when it was Mr. Scruff's "Get a Move On." The fluctuations on "Pop Yer Porn" add a bit of perk, but there's an overall blandness to these tracks that might simply be an inherent weakness to the genre. Dull lyrics on "Miss Taker" can't help amplify the deep bass electro, and the groove of "Wine Gum" seems stuck on repeat. The twitchy "Asided" works better, as they altered vocals add some interest, but it's not quite enough; similarly, the sample of The Cyrkle on "You're All Over My Head" is more compelling than the track around it. "Touch My Horn" starts to do something interesting with the brass band, but it doesn't quite go anywhere. The album tries to save itself with the smooth deep house of "Never Ending," and it's almost successful, but the answer to the album's title might just be 'don't.'