For the masses? Perhaps
Back again are the hard to define skater/rock/rap band that brought us the catchy-as-hell 'Heaven Is A Halfpipe', as well as the fantastic 'Stash It Up' which had the tourettes penned lines of, "I don't give a fuck/ not a single fuck/ not a single solitary fuck/ 'cause I don't give a fuck, motherfucker". I think all parents enjoyed those lines...
After an intro of who the band are, we have 'Bump' which is very hip hop influenced in the beats, with a hint of ska thrown in for good measure. 'Rollin'' is a little more like classic OPM from their massive selling album 'Menace To Sobriety' with fast chugging bass straight from 'Stash It Up' with the half sung and half rapped vocals. Apparently Dave Grohl is the voice we hear on the interlude, however it sounds like someone has tried recording them on their mobile, and it could just as well have been my mum!!
There are whole bunch of different styles here, we have the mellow ballad of 'Everyday', then the wonderful Ska beats of 'Perfect Day', with the odd riff that's very similar to Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Sweet Home Alabama'. It turns almost reggae with guest appearance from Eek-A-Mouse, and even a cover of Men At Work's 'Land Down Under', which is interesting to say the least!
First single from the album is 'Horny' which has already seen some airplay over the radio and the television music channels. Starting with piano playing that sounds very, very similar to Tommy Lee on Motley Crue's best ballad 'Home Sweet Home' but with a slightly faster tempo, it's easy to see why this is the single. The vocals start off like it's the blues, however the chorus is pure sing-along with the familiar playground chant given a slight up-to-date revamp to: "If you're horny and you know it clap your hands/ If you're horny and you know it clap you're hands/ If you're horny and you know it, and you really want to show it/ Well get on my lap and do a dance". By the second chorus you find yourself not only singing along but clapping your hands too!!
Like a lot of rap, or alternative rap albums, you have a large amount of songs - in this case 19 - of which just over half are good, and the others are either fillers, or require a lot more plays. All in all though, this is about as good as Alt Rap gets. It's not as assessable as 'Menace To Sobriety', and perhaps the long break between albums will effect the sales too, but the truth is, I can't think of another band that is doing anything remotely similar to this, and surely that is a good thing.