Review by Vanessa Monaghan
Republic of Loose have been pretty much in the public eye since 2003. Their fourth album ‘Bounce at the Devil’ (subtitled Vol. 5 Johnny Defeats Satan) was released last week.
A line up change and taking the recording process outside of Ireland for the first time seem to have worked wonders. The band have re-emerged with a dancier, possibly more commercial feel.
‘Bounce at the Devil’ starts with the lounge influenced ‘The Lamp’, some nice vocal effects and an addictive beat introduce us to the track. This is the sort of track that wouldn’t be out of place on a Fun Lovin’ Criminals’ album.
The Loose show how diverse their influences are with the gangsta styled ‘I Love the Police’. Not sure if the ‘gangsters’ would be so kind to the boys in blue, “When I think about ’em I just wanna hug ’em”. Catchy hooks and a great melody, listen to this and it will be in your head all day.
You got to love the Loose. There aren’t many bands that get away with dodgy spelling including the dance filled interlude ‘Ded Prostitutes’. ‘My Heroez’ shows Mick Pyro on top of his game, clever lyrics and it seems being off the brew has been a favour to his vocal chords. ‘Mezmefried’ has a slight Turkish/Middle Eastern feel with acoustic percussion excellently blended into this funk track. Stick on the headphones, there must be 100 different sounds going on.
Lead single from the album, ‘The Man’ was a good introduction to the overall style of the album, while keeping their sound, Republic of Loose are also definitely heading towards a more upbeat dancier style. Second single from the album ’99’ which features Bo Starks, is more akin to what radio land would consider to be ROL. This track should feature on heavy rotation, it has a more laid back vibe and vocal harmonies. It could be this year’s ‘Comeback Girl’.
While both tracks are good, standout track for this writer is ‘The Blah Bounce’. Introduce a phat dirty base line, clever vocal hooks, simple lyrics which are easy to remember and it’s one long chorus. Excellent, love it. I want to hear this LOUD in a club.. it could be massive.
Satan Bounce (Waltz with Satan and The Mechanical Prostitute) follows. It’s another dance track with a more refined bassline and shows that the Loose are a band which have many layers beneath the single releases. Again, Mick Pyro’s vocal lines are interesting and never boring.
Musically and production wise it seems like a new new leash of life for ROL. On ‘Bounce at the Devil’ they have successfully brought all their influences together, even the whistle. There’s being Irish and being Oirish, but on two tracks, ‘What kind of Man would I be?’ and ‘She’s So Evil’, the Loose manage to make this trad instrument relevant and what’s more sound bloody great. There’s of shades of funk, dance, rock and reggae throughout the album, what we have come to know of Republic of Loose. It’s worth taking a deeper look at this album though, it’s a cracker.