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Major Lazer
Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do
Downtown Records
out June 16th
[76]
[Rating Scale]
[rating:76/100]
The opening notes of Major Lazer’s debut album evoke an old Western movie, counterparts riding toward each other, gritty and determined looks on their faces, horse hooves scraping the dusty ground, tumbleweeds blowing across the barren landscape. The next 41 minutes and 50 seconds throw that image out the window, sacrificed in favor of summer parties, dancehall clubs, and Bacardi commercials. It’s a summer fling of an album, all fun and no commitment, blatantly here to party, break some things, and then go home. Sweet.
Major Lazer is the nom-de-record of the collaboration between producers Diplo and Switch. The name belongs, supposedly, to a one-armed Jamaican commando who fought in a secret zombie war. Instead of prosthetic arms, he now has lasers for hands. Yes, you read that correctly. Given that back story, Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do sounds pretty much exactly how you’d expect it to – complete with off the wall beats, uncontrollable lyrics, and awesometastic videos.
The album isn’t for everybody. It’s not really an old-people-album, it’s not really a jam-band-fan-album, it’s not really an offended-by-off-color-lyrics-album.
Nor is the album for all situations. It’s not really a gradually-wake-up-to-album, it’s not really a mellowing-out-in-your-living-room-album, it’s not really a just-got-bad-news-album.
But for those moments and people that it’s meant for, it’s perfect. Do you often find yourself with a bunch of buzz-chasing kids looking for a dance party? Bingo. Are you a DJ looking for a Santigold cut to mix with (the also Diplo and Switch produced) “Paper Planes”? Bingo. Are you Usain Bolt looking to get pumped up before a race? Bingo. This is the album for you.
I don’t claim to be a dancehall expert in any sense of the word. My exposure to reggae is pretty much confined to people with the last name Marley, I don’t know the difference between dubstep and dancehall, and I used to like Sean Paul in high school. But the fact that I don’t know much about those genres and scenes shouldn’t change the fact that I ride for this album. In fact, it should probably serve as an extra bonus – even people who know nothing about what they’re listening to will dig it!
Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do opens with “Hold The Line”, backed by a Bird Is The Word bassline and fronted by a stutterstepping Santigold. It’s some high energy, high intensity material, and one of the album’s standout tracks. “Anything Goes”, featuring Turbulence, is another highlight. Turbulence’s Jamaican accent is interwoven with synthesized strings, laseresque sound effects, and explosions. It’s here that Diplo’s description of the album is apt: “digital reggae and dancehall from Mars in the future!”
[audio=http://pmatunes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/01-hold-the-line-feat-mr-lexx-santigold.mp3,Major Lazer - Hold The Line]
“Pon de Floor” is probably my favorite track from the album…no wait, maybe it’s “Jump Up”. No, it might be the aforementioned “Anything Goes”, although the stoner romp “Mary Jane” is pretty solid too. Ah! It’s just so hard to choose! The fact is, this isn’t an album that’s supposed to be analyzed on a song-by-song basis. It’s more of a soundtrack than a complete record, meant to serve as a backdrop for a dance party rather than as a piece of art. Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do pumps through speakers and pales through headphones. It’s meant to be shared.
[audio=http://pmatunes.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/05-anything-goes-feat-turbulance.mp3,Major Lazer - Anything Goes]
The album isn’t without its low points. “Cash Flow” is a low-energy reggae tune that seems out of place between high octane tracks “Anything Goes” and “Mary Jane”. “Can’t Stop Now” would serve better as an outro to the album – it seems out of place in the first three tracks. And “Baby”, a skit song built on the gag of a crying baby having built-in autotune, was great as a hype-building promo for the album but doesn’t match up to the quality found elsewhere on the record.
But a couple duds on an album stuffed to the gills with frantic bangers is forgivable. Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do never pretends to be anything more than what it is – a nonsensically hype dancehall album that will miraculously reach the ears of suburban youth and indie snobs everywhere. It’s weird, it’s intense, it’s unfamiliar. And not everyone will like it – I personally want to like it less than I actually do like it. But in its superficiality, it’s pretty perfect.
To enter to win a copy of Major Lazer’s Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do, leave a comment with your thoughts on the tracks you’ve just sampled, Major Lazer, or (if you’ve listened to it) the album. Make sure you leave your name/email address in the provided fields! Entries will be accepted until July 7th
by on June 30, 2009 ‡ 1 reaction
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m a jam band fan who just got some bad news, and I still think “Anything Goes” is a sick track. As well as “Hold the Line.” Actually, I can’t decide which of those I like better. I hope the rest of the album is this good.
my favorite track by major lazer is “Keep it Goin’ Louder”. it kinda has a pop vibe to it but the presence of Ricky Blaze, the dancehall star, keeps it from becoming too mainstream.
I loved this album on the first listen
“Baby” is fucking hilarious. The excitement of “Hold the Line” and “Pon de Floor” is not really matched on the rest of the album, but it’s good, chilled out reggae.
The mastering of the album sounds weird to me though, like the bass is a bit flat and overdriven.
I just love love love love this.
I really agree with “But for those moments and people that it’s meant for, it’s perfect.”
I posted the link on facebook and got 2 responses – and the 2 responses I got, were from people who really loved it.
hold the line’s surf rock beat always brings me back for more. diplo is my hero.
yeah completely agree with “But for those moments and people that it’s meant for, it’s perfect.”
“Keep It Going Louder” is the clear standout track here. I never thought I would praise a single featuring Nina Sky in my life.
at first,my fav is jump up and hold the line but after 2-3 times repeat i really like CASH FLOW and when you hear bassline
Whoever wrote this review is a terrible writer, with very little appreciating for what they were writing about, saved only marginally by stumbling into some decent taste in music. If you don’t know Dancehall or Reggae, perhaps you shouldn’t be commenting with any authority on this record? But in fact, it seems as though your musical deficiencies might extend more broadly. All fun and no commitment? Really? Go back to the beginning, press play, listen to the music. Then talk to me
Anything Goes Best Song On The Album
…I’ll talk to you Steve – You’re a cock.
Whoever wrote this review is a terrible writer. Go back and take Writing 101 at your crappy community college and then try again.
know what you write or else everyone’s gonna laugh at you. just like the case here.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the person who typed this review is an idiot, or even a terrible writer necessarily.. but as a successful DJ in a large metropolitan location in America, specializing in packing dancefloors with hundreds of people week after week playing dancehall and reggae, and largely the cutting edge of those genres at that, I must say that despite all of the author’s uninformed perceptions and backhanded compliments, this album completely revitalized, reworked, reinvented and utterly revolutionized dancehall music. But then, what do you expect from one of the world’s hottest producers? The man behind MIA’s wildly successful albums and a mash-up champion and visionary beatmaster, Diplo can’t fail. Insert Jamaica’s hottest artist on “Pon de Floor” (Vybz Kartel), a host of other serious, quite literally world-class artists liberally throughout the album, and back it up with the most high-fidelity top-notch production, and you have a contender for best album this generation. Did I mention it was recorded in an astonishing two short weeks – yes, only TWO for chrissake!! – at the legendary Bob Marley’s cutting-edge Tuff Gong Studio in Kingston, JA, and we’re talking serious DJ and dancefloor ammunition. Given all this, author, hopefully you’re now taking the opportunity to bow down and recognize. It takes wisdom to know to keep your opinions to yourself when you don’t know the subject about which you’re attempting to speak on, and furthermore wouldn’t know it if it hit you in the face with a brick and ran you over with a freight train, which is the equivalent of what this revolutionary and game-changing album does, ESPECIALLY to the uninitiated, unsuspecting and unfamiliarized listener. So there ya have it, author.. recognize what you’re dealing with BEFORE you sound like the biggest, well, you-know-what in the galaxy. Oh, and by the way, if “Cash Flow” is a “low point”, then all of my extensive expertise in rocking a crowd is wrong – funny but after that tune, its real hard to follow it and keep it hype .. well, after Collie Buddz’s excellent “Good Enough/Enuff” on the same riddim.