I’m pretty confident that most critics will hate this record. Stylistically it is all over the place. It is possessed of a Zappa like sense of humour that means that most songs are whacky and some are straight up pisstakes and parts of it seem to be made to be deliberately annoying, especially upon repeated listenings. In a world where bands like the Arcade Fire and Interpol are lauded for making serious, coherent album-length statements Need New Body seem done for. I say coherency be damned, this a damn entertaining album! ‘Poppa B’, a demented country ballad about losing it all but still having your dancing shoes, is the first song in ages (not including those made by Oasis) to make me laugh out loud. Some of the purposely abominable hiphop jams featured here are also very funny. The record works best, however, when the band somehow manage to transcend their love of pastiche and create something truly wonderful. The best example of this is their stoned out homage to Sun Ra ‘Outerspace’, which actually features Arkestra members Marshall Allen and Tyrone Hill shronking it up. While the critics may hate it, I think Need New Body’s devil may care approach to music will win them many fans.
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