The last time we saw the Black Eyed Peas, they were offering up the sensory violation that composed their performance at the Super Bowl halftime show a couple of months ago. Their massive lights so bounced off the snow, I could see it from Denton.
Yet another example of the Peas placing style over substance, I guess.
Which brings us to their latest single, "Just Can't Get Enough," which stands as yet another example of how derivative the Peas can get.
In other words: It's nothing we haven't heard before. See: The
electronic R&B-styled beat so frequently and absurdly used on the
radio these days and in this song as well.
This song does one
thing pretty well, though: It shows off a bit of Fergie's vocal range.
Or, rather, how great of a vocal imitator she is -- like her Axl Rose
impression during in the Super Bowl halftime show. In this track, she
sports a fake-ass Caribbean accent on her verse lines and an awkward
Lolita voice in the chorus.
The Caribbean impression sorta
brings something to mind: You could probably cut Rihanna's lines from
"What's My Name?" in here and get a similar-sounding track. The Lolita
voice, meanwhile, kinda messes with her enunciation. What does she mean
when she says "Wanda German side you low?"
Who cares?
Not the Peas, that's who. Because, even in the filming
of this video, they couldn't help but steal a bit from someone else --
in this case Sofia Coppola's 2003 film, Lost in Translation. In
the video, Fergie skulks around with minimal clothing in a fancy hotel
overlooking Tokyo, just like Scarlett Johansson did in the movie. And,
OK, Fergie's purty and all, but she's not Scarlett Johansson purty.
Meanwhile, everyone else is wandering around in the street or singing
karaoke. That might be a reason this track sounds so borrowed -- it's
probably just karaoke, too.
But it's not just Fergie and
Will.i.am on this track. Taboo gets in on the action, too, tacking on a
few technological references. We get it, Peas! Your Intel processors and
smartphones make you evolve into musical Cylons.
Unfortunately, and here's something y'all Peas should have learned by now, you cannot substitute technology for talent.
Or
retreads. This track ends with the "switch-up" thing the Peas do. It's
no longer the surprising novelty it might have been years ago. Listeners
kinda expected now, like a breakdown or a live encore.
Seriously,
I can't take much more from the Peas. Their music is starting to make
me want to German-side someone. Whatever that means.
