McLovin
I don't really like the Black Eyed Peas. At all. If we're going on the 'you're only as good as your last single' rule, then my mind has to stretch all the way back to 2005's Don't Lie, a very sweet and pretty summer ditty. At some point in the past few years however, Will.i.am discovered ELECTRO and AUTOTUNE and BLEEPS and FUNNY VOICE EFFECTS: the band's sound changed beyond recognition. Perversely, their popularity seems to escalate as each of their singles rapidly decrease in quality. The Time (Dirty Bit) was probably my least favourite hit of last year; a horrible, soulless reworking of the wedding disco classic (I've Had) the Time of My Life. Surely they can't sink any lower?
Despite Fergie sounding like she's been inhaling balloons and Will.i.am positively sweating autotune-ness (you be so 2000 and late, mate), Just Can't Get Enough is clearly an improvement. There's actually a memorable chorus, tinged with melancholy and longing. Even Taboo name-checking the deceased athlete Flo-Jo can't stop things ticking along nicely. So why do I only think this is a half-decent effort? With about a minute to go (so close to the finish line guys!), they mess up a perfectly acceptable (and in the context of their last few songs, excellent) single by going all weird. Will.i.am starts chanting 'switch up!' as we travel back in time to the late nineties for a rave-lite finale. From a promising mid-tempo ballad, the song descends into a cheesy happy hardcore mess, ruining any momentum previously built up.
What makes it all so frustrating is the hints that Just Can't Get Enough had the potential of being a really good song. I've long given up hope of the group recording anything close to the wonderful Where Is The Love (which looks more and more like an aberration in their back catalogue), but they know how to create a memorable hook. Why must it always feel like they're trying just that little bit too hard, slapping a vocal pitch effect here or a rubbish breakdown there? Still, the way it's currently climbing the charts I wouldn't be surprised if this became their sixth (!) UK number one.
Spyke
I must say I was quite surprised to see that Oli had published a post on the Black Eyed Peas . . . and I couldn't disagree with him much more! Upon first downloading The Beginning this was one of the tracks I chose the delete off my itunes. I think it was Fergie's high pitched voice which really put me off; it's worse than it is in Rock That Body. However I think this track is very much like Imma Be in the sense that all throughout you think you're listening to a sub-par BEP single then when you almost get to the end you get a brilliant Switch up (especially when you see the monorail train speed up in the video). I honestly can't decide if the last moment is just pure genius or whether it shines so well because you've been bored to tears for the past 3 minutes.
As I've said before, some of the album tracks on the E.N.D. are miles better than anything on the newest album (Missing You, Party All Night, Simple Little Melody), so I'm not sure why they felt the need to move on so quickly. Anyway, here we are and actually in preparing to write this entry I've had the track on repeat all day and it has grown on me.
Chart Predictions:
Spyke: 3
McLovin: 1
Actual: 3
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