2 keepers
keeper avg .200
After the strained electronic grooves of Evil Urges it's not the worst thing I could ask for, but it's still easier to count the things that aren't awful than the things that are. "Holdin' On To Black Metal"**** is by far the biggest attention grabber; the bass line as a 60's vibe but the angular, blaring synth fake brass is pure Duran Duran. The gentle chiding to give up the devil music of one's adolescent rebellion phase comes off as preachy, though I think it's to be taken as irony rather than as sermonizing. "The Day Is Coming"**** is short on lyrics but the creative use of electronic instruments is increasingly rare, as Jim James's soulful melodies provide a nice counterpoint for the subtlety percussive keyboard progression and dreamy production. The slow-grinding "Victory Dance", which sets a fittingly somber tone for the album, sounds kinda tough but is really a tribal-flavored "Turn The Page." Other mediocre songs feature some cool parts here and there. The 70's arena-rock sized intro of "First Light" sounds promising but the rest of the song is a bland 70's-pop shuffle. While the painfully boring and aptly-named "Slow Slow Tune" comes alive in expansive bridges it exemplifies the band's uninspired version of mellow soul; it's highly unnecessary as Alabama Shakes does it much, much better. And when not suffering other lulling ballads ("Movin' Away" and "Wonderful") or slavishly retraced past steps ("Wanna Freak You Out"), we get a title song that combines Bruce Springsteen's heartland rock an U2's clanging delay, two more overused tropes, and the sage advice of the "Outta My System" which exhorts us to do stupid stuff when we're young and it's more socially acceptable I guess (too late for me). If the album were any longer it surely would have had even more fluff so not a bad thing it's a short 45-minutes.
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