Soundbites

By Josh Eiserike

Published: June 26, 2008

» Girl Talk, "Feed The Animals"

Mash-Up 101: Combine existing songs to get something new yet familiar. "Feed The Ani-mals" marks Girl Talk's (Gregg Gillis) follow up to his 2006 breakthrough, "Night Ripper." There's nothing as inspired as "Night Rip-per's" pairing of Biggie Smalls' "Juicy" to Elton John's "Tiny Dancer," but "Feed the Animals" is still overflowing with brilliance, passion for music and gleeful use of the fair use principal in copyright law. Of "Feed The Animals'" hundreds of samples, some are obvious (Busta Rhymes' "Whoo Ha!! Got You All In Check" coupled with The Police's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"), other references are so fast it might take a few listens to actually place—a quick drum break from Ben Folds Five's "Battle Of Who Could Care Less" or a couple bars from "Bohemian Rhapsody." The only problem with "Feed The Animals" is that some of the most inspired bits—turning the Cure's "In Between Days" into a sexy track for Usher—only last a few sec-onds. "Feed the Animals" is just as much a 53-minute party, changing songs every couple seconds, as it is 14 tracks. Still, it flies ahead with breakneck speed, only dropping the pace at the triumphant moments of the last track, where Journey's "Faithfully" closes the club with Huey and UGK (featuring OutKast) bring it all home. Best of all? The whole album is available as a pay-what-you-want download at Illegalart.net

» The Offspring, "Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace"

An apology is in order: I chastised The Offspring about three weeks ago as a punk band that looked sillier by the year. Most of their post "Ixnay on the Hombre" singles—"Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)," "Why Don't You Get A Job," "Original Prankster" were one-off novelties, the albums weren't much better. OK, "Conspiracy of One" had a couple decent tracks, but it was no "Smash." "Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace" is no "Smash" either, but it's The Offspring's best effort in a decade. The novelties are gone. In-stead, Dexter Holland and Co. focus their energy on crafting solid songs. There's a little maturity, too, and The Offspring wear it well. The subdued ballad "Kristy Are You Doing OK?" has just as much intensity as the punk rock political romp, "Stuff is Messed Up." "Rise and Fall…" is not a huge departure and ante-up for the band, noth-ing like Green Day's "American Idiot" or Blink 182's self-titled swan song. For all of "Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace's" moments of maturity and diversity, it still sounds like an Offspring record, a really good one at that.

» The Alarm, "Guerilla Tactics"

A simple formula: The Clash + U2—cohesion = The Alarm. That's not to say they're a bad band—they're pretty good. OK, maybe "Guerilla Tactics" is a bit spotty in parts. But, forget all of that for a moment, skip a few of the worst offenders ("Rat Trap") and it is a pretty good album. The Alarm date back to the 1980s and its punk rock credentials shine through on tracks like "Three Sevens Clash," as near perfect as two and a half minutes of punk can be or "War Cry's" "Joshua Tree" harmonics over layers of bouncing guitars. But The Alarm saves the best for last—the final tracks get better and better ("Hit the Ground Running"), building toward a one-two climax of "Love Hope And Strength" and "Broadcast On Street Airwaves."

It's really one song over two tracks that's like a Welsh cousin of "Angel of Harlem," but you won't care… it's a great ending that'll make you forget the unevenness and lack of focus of what it took to get there.