POP REVIEW; Dance Music Pumped Full of Helium

For American pop fans, Jamiroquai's song ''Virtual Insanity'' was a fancy slice of birthday cake: it caused a serious craving, but after a few bites its sugary intensity made people feel rather sick. The poppy funk hit and its video, featuring the Mad Hatter-like antics of Jamiroquai's singer, Jason Kay, was everywhere in 1998, but Mr. Kay's trickster act soon proved grating, and subsequent musical efforts earned little interest. It seemed Jamiroquai would be remembered as only empty calories.

Yet it turns out that the world has many cake connoisseurs. At Hammerstein Ballroom on Monday night, Mr. Kay announced that ''A Funk Odyssey'' (Epic), the band's fifth album, is No. 1 in several European countries and Japan. Later he sank to his knees and begged for radio play in the United States before leading the band into a remix version of its latest single, ''Little L.'' And so Jamiroquai negotiated the tricky straits between worldwide fame and American failure.

It was easy to hear why the group remains popular in Europe. Its new album might have been called ''A Eurodisco Odyssey,'' so expertly does it continue that subgenre's project of making dance music as sleek and shiny as possible, as if propelled by helium.

Though anchored by the adroit drummer Derrick McKenzie and the percussionist Sola Akingbola, Jamiroquai's grooves remained brisk, never getting into the thick of American funk. Earth, Wind and Fire's ''Shining Star'' was the reference point in ''Cosmic Girl,'' while ''Love Foolosophy'' borrowed a melody from Madonna's ''Dress You Up.'' The band also offered a spirited cover of Donna Summer's ''Bad Girls.'' With these choices, the nine-piece band firmly aligned itself with the chart-topping, toe-tapping end of the dance spectrum.

Monday's show streamlined Jamiroquai's already accessible sound, replacing its horn section with three backup singers and excluding its hippie trademark, the Australian didgeridoo. The set stayed high-energy, with Toby Smith's keyboards playing off Simon Katz's guitar in aggressive riffs that recalled the currently popular sounds of Fatboy Slim and the Chemical Brothers. Vocals remained most important, as Mr. Kay's reedy tenor intertwined with his backup singers' voices on many catchy choruses.

Mr. Kay has retained his Space Cowboy persona; this time, his silly hat was a futuristic headdress with metallic feathers. He complained about it several times but swore he would never take it off, and he still managed to execute his patented frantic yet graceful dance moves.

There was something admirable in his zaniness, although at times his moves were so odd it seemed as if the ''Saturday Night Live'' comic Chris Kattan had taken possession of his body. Jamiroquai's disco style may not suit the more aggressive landscape of current American pop, but you never know when another sugar craving might come on.