James Arden checks out the garage rockers latest album.
The Christian rock band from Brighton bring religion to the masses.
Recipe for modern R'n'B album: liberal helpings of guest rappers and an overdose of sexual euphemisms.
I’ll admit it. Last summer, I played ‘Candy’, which turned out to be the lead single from this debut, Aggrosantos.com, and I liked it. It was cheesy electro dance music, whose repetitive chorus was everything you needed for an alcohol filled, party going, July. It was cocky. It was flirty. It was simple. Unfortunately, trying to carry off the same mix in every song equates to a very strained and poorly formed album.
Firstly, the ‘album’ only has 9 tracks. The total run time is less than 30 minutes. Most people would agree that such a total should, instead, be considered an EP. However, there is the positive that such a mind numbing album is over quickly. The usual synthesised, electronic beat is to be heard in all tracks and there appears such little variance, that when finishing, the album feels as if it had been one long misshapen track. Lyrical genius is not to be found; the extent of the puns appears to stretch to the overused euphemism in song title ‘Anaconda’. I won’t subject you to an extract.
I put the album in my computer hesitantly: I expected the cheese, but I hoped there would be a little diversity. Opener ‘Candy’ I stand by. Maybe it is in fact the inclusion of Kimberly Wyatt that provides the appeal. She sings in a rather seductive, yet brash tone after all. And the chorus is largely left in her capable hands. Aggro puts in some cheesy rap and Spanish. Track two, ‘Stamina’ starts, and it is as if the formula has been repeated. Aggro’s brawl accent, whether an attempt at appearing cool or his actual attempt at singing, is not only detractive from any integrity the album may have wanted to retain, but instantly reveals a lack of serious talent. It was probably a wise decision to have the featured artists take every chorus. Unfortunately, they do little to remedy the tracks, and serve more often than not to emphasise the problems of Santos’ album itself.
Attempting to appeal broadly, ‘Do You Believe’, is a track considering the lessons and growth of love, but is destroyed by the lack of any sincerity in tone. ‘Everybody In The Club’ sounds like a poorly planned cross between a JLS chorus and a much more uninspired Dizzee Rascal, while ‘Like U Like’ can at least lend itself a slight credibility in its feature, Kimberley Walsh. Apparently, the winning combination is somewhere in the name Kimberly…
There is no relent from the uninspired nature of the album however. ‘Just Like You’, ‘Anaconda’ and ‘Rhythm ‘n’ Flow’ are all unmemorable. Finishing the offering seemed quite a relief in many ways. It was almost embarrassing to listen to: something signalled from the off in the fact the album’s title, Aggrosantos.com, is blatant self-promotion.
Apparently, ‘VAMOS’, as is so shouted throughout translates to ‘Let’s go’ in English. All the energy of that phrase appears to have been spent on ‘Candy’. So I repeat, Vamos! Let’s go find an album that is worth a listen.
★☆☆☆☆
If you like the feel and want a better listen, try: Dizzee Rascal, particularly his older material
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