LMFAO... yep. Stands for "Laughing My Freaking Ass Off." (No, not what you quite thought it meant.) LMFAO have been experiencing a pretty noticeable wave of success as of late for their unique brand of party-ready music. This uncle-nephew duo are also well-known as proponents of drinking, enjoying the company of women, and partying until the morning light, as evidenced by their latest album, "Sorry For Party Rocking". They don't seem so apologetic in the music, however, and maybe they should be, because this album is fairly unpalatable at times.
Or is it?
...Yeah, yeah, it is. This album is weird. Just... weird. After a self-serving spoken introduction over electro dance music about the rising of the two men behind LMFAO (with some bonus dubstep beats, surprisingly) in Rock The Beat II, we're presented with... another electro hip-hop track! Well, whaddya know. Sorry For Party Rocking is just one of many tracks to highlight LMFAO's infatuation with consuming alcohol, partying excessively, and waking up from hangovers in delicate situations. By this point, you should already know that you won't be dealing with any intelligent banter here. It's all party music, and that's the point; funky beats and silly lyrics are about as much as you can expect from this. If you're having a backyard beer bash or running a popular club, then by all means, crank this up.
I'm pretty sure that if any of you owns a radio, watches any popular music station (between extensive bouts of showing off the glamorous "cribs" of hip-hop artists who may or may not deserve a pool bigger than most houses in my area), or have ever breathed in the past year, you have heard Party Rock Anthem. This song was everywhere, and boy, was it infectious. It was undoubtedly THE summer anthem of 2011, no doubt about it, spawning the lovable catchphrase, "Everyday I'm shufflin'." Well, even I, reserved fellow though I may be, have to admit that this is an absolutely ear-tingling electro-house song that was a guilty pleasure throughout the steamy summer evenings. Even that shrill synth they wedged in there is contagious! This single topped charts all over the world... but not in Latvia. Poor Latvia.
Their latest single, Sexy And I Know It, is probably drawing more attention because of all the men wearing tight Spandex underwear in the music video than for the song itself. LMFAO present a song dedicated not to drinking and partying, but more about being narcissistic about how awesome their bodies are (though have you SEEN that shiny purple tattoo one of the members has on their entire arm?). With more of an acid vibe, the song is born to be a club hit, but really, it's nothing to write home about. Not that you're write home about a song where an entire section is dedicated to the repetition of the word "wiggle". LMFAO's other single, Champagne Showers featuring Natalia Kills suffers from other problems, such as an overly high-pitched chorus from Natalia (I'm not certain why anyone would pitch an already high female voice upward) and an otherwise dull chorus overall. I wouldn't have considered this single material, but hey, I don't make those decisions.
The rest of the album is filled with various other party songs. Surprised? You should be. Okay, no, you shouldn't be. One Day showcases their love of money, beer, clubbing, and getting a great woman (one day, of course). The instrumental aspect of the chorus is pretty abrasive, but at least listening to the autotuned vocals isn't entirely a loss. And with a song title like Put That A$$ To Work, how can you possibly NOT love it? Well, you'd have to hear it. This is pretty corny stuff, and as you may probably have anticipated, it's all about sexy girls waggling their posteriors while partying and drinking. Skip this one. Skip it NOW.
Oh dear, and they've also hired on a few additional faces to help with the album. Rapper Busta Rhymes offers his take on fun with Take It To The Hole. The background music is pretty difficult to listen to, overwhelming the lyrics. Once you find out that the lyrics include such gems as, "You see that girl over there she big chested / Let's start my motor boat, face nested / When I do that, she screams all festive / When you do that, she screams, 'I'm molested!' / Now you are arrested", you know the decorum of the album just dropped about 10 points. And as for Busta Rhymes... no, we didn't even need his input. We Came Here To Party (with assistance from GoonRock) is actually more of a nice disco-house track, coated with more rap lyrics about partying and "thugging". If the vocals were removed, the situation might just be salvaged. As well, debatably house artist Calvin Harris dips his toes into the LMFAO pool with Reminds Me Of You. He probably should boil his toes after doing that; he was unable to save this from being little more than a forgettable romp.
Best Night brings us the joy of hearing will.i.am, GoonRock, and Eva Simons all in one place! I'm getting a bit tired of hearing will.i.am everywhere, considering his music (with the Black Eyed Peas AND solo) has lost all elements of relevance ever since he hit the mainstream. But I digress. The song actually sounds pretty nice with some trance-like synths and solid house vibes; my gosh, it actually sounds like the song was composed and took more than ten minutes to make! Hold on while I brace myself for the shock. ... Okay. I can even withstand will.i.am's presence for this one. That's definitely a good sign. LMFAO follows up this miracle with All Night Long featuring Lisa. Just Lisa. Not any particular Lisa, just a Lisa. Doesn't really matter because she's so autotuned (and terrible even with the assistance), it might as well be anyone. The song itself isn't half-bad, though I probably won't remember it tomorrow. But any song that uses the word "navel" in passing gets a thumbs-up from me.
With You is definite funk at its best on the album; here is the best demonstration of what LMFAO is capable of when they put their mind to it. This song's bass is undeniably groovy and definitely worth a dance-off in a jive club. They also temporarily replace talking of alcoholic beverages with steamed coffee! How can you go wrong? To conclude this party rockfest, they give us a song called Hot Dog. Yeah... well, the song's about as well put-together as the ingredients of a hot dog. I couldn't even finish this one. It just sounds too stupid to be worth completing. It's all about the guys from LMFAO trying to buy a hot dog, but they end up being dissatisfied and want their money back. If they were scraping the bottom of the barrel looking for material, they dug all the way through and scratched the floor underneath. A really awful way to end an album, no matter who made it.
If LMFAO's lyrics had more meaning or social relevance at all (aside from getting drunk, laid, or admired by others), I might have declared that there is more substance here. But although I like the style of music they're using, by uttering ANYTHING, they immediately ruin the positive effect I had hoped I could achieve from a simple "wave-your-hands-in-the-ayurr" party album. I don't need to be told in ten different ways that drinking is awesome. I already know, guys. I already know.
