Happy End of the World is the first album of entirely new material that the Pizzicato Five released in the United States, but it doesn't necessarily represent a great leap forward for the dance-lounge duo. Pizzicato Five continue to blend light '60s pop, '70s disco, and '80s dance with an ironic flair on Happy End of the World, but the energy level is turned down a bit. It's a surprisingly laid-back album, but that's not necessarily a bad thing -- the lush arrangements have an engaging, low-key charm, and the beats are nice and subtle. Happy End of the World runs a little too long, and no song stands out as a single, but it's an engaging record that suggests there may be more to the Pizzicato Five than kitsch.