Review Summary: How do you catch a unique rabbit?
One could probably count on one hand the number of albums that tickle your inner James Brown, your heart strings, and your loins with equal fervor but with
American Love, Bad Rabbits have created one of those rare few. This album is funky beyond belief, dripping with sensuality, and is irresistibly charming. This unique brand of synth-drench R&B is like nothing you’ve heard this year and this virulent combination of panty-dropping vocals by Fredua Boakye mixed with the appropriately seductive instrumentals, in particular the synths which are used without restraint but very tastefully, will have you head bobbing and toe-tapping your way right to the replay button.
American Love tackles one of life’s most confounding mysteries, girls. Make no mistake this is a record to get down to, not to find any deep meanings in. Topics range from broken relationships, to dirty bitches and how to treat them, to being hopelessly in love and quite frankly, any other subject matter simply wouldn’t translate as effectively to this kind of music. The album opens with one helluva intro song, “We Can Roll”, which blasts off with a simple, but ultra-catchy hook, and the first of many stellar vocal performances by Boakye and keeps you moving right up until the end. It is Boakye that creates the sensual core contained in each of these songs and one can hear the confidence in his voice. The man sounds good and he knows it, and frequent pitch shifts and the large range he displays lets you know it too. The music is no mere background noise either. Even though the songs revolve around the vocals, the music radiates the exact same mood and flavor with funky bass lines and sharp synths contributing huge amounts of the feeling rife in this record.
As an album,
American Love definitely succeeds in what it seemingly sets out to do, get jiggy wit it. Not cohesive in the slightest nor profound in anyway, this is the epitome of a fun album, the kind of music that gets stuck in your head as you try to focus on your work. The kind of music that gets you pimp walking down the sidewalk to a beat in your mind without realizing it. The hooks present are a plentiful bounty, with most songs sprouting from a damn catchy one. Simplistic? Yes. Effective? Absolutely.
American Love is not really a grower. The album has a definite theme and sticks with it for better or for worse so if you don’t like it, repeated listens will do little to sway your opinion. This stringent adherence to their niche is both the reason why Bad Rabbits will enjoy major success but is also the reason they very possibly can burn out just as fast as they rose. Hopefully, the band will continue to evolve their sound to avoid stagnation but with the sheer talent collected here, it’s really a question of which direction they choose to go rather than their ability to go down it. For now,
American Love’s tantalizing hooks will fulfill anyone’s deep seeded need to dance. You may be surprised to find your pants have taken themselves off during its playtime but it’s ok, you’re feeling good and if that’s not the point of music then what is?
