Written by: PP on 07/06/2011 03:09:27
Okay, so reviewing the new Cash Cash album "Love Or Lust" on Rockfreaks.net may be a bit of a stretch, but since I reviewed their debut "Take It To The Floor" two years ago, I figured I owe you at least an explanation why no further Cash Cash albums are likely to be reviewed on this site. That album was already dangling on a damn fine line between neon pop punk and flat-out boy band pop, but it was provocatively catchy nonetheless, even if some of you hated that record. And let's be honest here folks, since that record we've heard far more detestable crap from, among others, Victory Records, so it can and should be deemed as a guilty pleasure.
The new album, however, is an entirely different story. Any and all references to pop punk, neon or otherwise, have been dropped in favour of a blatant pop and r'n'b formula. There are still glimpses of power pop that doesn't stray that far from, say, Hellogoodbye or Brandtson, but the majority of the record is directly and unquestionably pop. And what's worse, Cash Cash use up every cliché associated with the genre - twice. Nearly every song on the record is about girls, but not in the boyfriend/broken heart/emo way pop punk bands tend to use, but in the "girl you are dirty let's have sex on the dancefloor" kind of way, accompanied by dance beats, heavy doses of autotune, synth effects and all the stuff that belongs in club music, not in rock, pop rock or otherwise.
The melodies are rather catchy, that's something you can't really argue against. The way that they are delivered, however, is under all criticism here. Consider the following lyrics, for instance: "I don't know what your daddy would do girl / the way you work it babe, makes me wanna misbehave / I don't know what your daddy would do boy / if he saw me hardcore, sexin' on the dancefloor". Another song is about telling a girl not to "touch my heart" because the singer is only looking for a one night stand. Basically, ultimate sleaze lyrics that infest all R'n'B songs ever written from the beginning of the genre have completely taken over the charming naivety and innocence of the band's debut album.
That said, the album isn't entirely worthless, even if I despise it lyrically and what it stands for in general. "Jersey Girl" is a good pop song even if it corrects the vocals with hefty amounts of autotune, as long as you are able to make that separation between what we consider is good music in rock, and what is acceptable in pop. There are other examples on the record, too, although no "Party In Your Bedroom" style insta hits. But it does mean that Cash Cash have strayed in the opposite direction I would have liked them to, and now find themselves in an area where covering them on this site in the future doesn't make much sense.
Download: Jersey Girl, Victim Of Love, I Have One Regret
For the fans of: R'nB, autotuned pop, boybands, N*Sync
Listen: Myspace
Self-Released / Twilight