The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die

2009

Cooking Vinyl
Buy (Amazon.com)

7.5/10

Go ahead.

Call me out on glossing over your favorite trip-hop band. Label me a retard for defending the shrieks of Thomas Erak and Tim Ward. Hell, even threaten to sue me for a particularly controversial review. Just do me a favor: give the fucking Prodigy a chance.

I've been listening to their new album since it leaked, and I like it. I liked it a month ago, I liked it this morning, and I'll hopefully like it just as much tomorrow and in another thirty days. And for once, it seems like the critics might just be on my side.

Dabbling in house, breakbeat, and dance punk, Invaders Must Die is a lot of things. Serious is not one of them. I think that many people are quick to forget that this is the same band that, barely a decade ago, rode a song called "Smack My Bitch Up" to moderate crossover success. Vivaldi this isn't - enjoy it for the same reasons you enjoy those shitty vending machine beefsteaks. They're quick, they're easy, and if you're fucked up enough, they're actually a whole hell of a lot of fun.

"Invaders Must Die" starts with a churning bass that reminds me of Brand New's "Not The Sun". The build-up on "Thunder" is the best kind of bait-and-switch, never really exploding but paying off in the end. Closer "Stand Up" is the march that Sousa never wrote, and even after hearing it twenty some-odd times, "Warrior's Dance" still manages to come off charming and exotic. These are the reasons why I like Invaders Must Die, and they're probably the same reasons why a lot of people hate it.

But, come on. Just give it a shot. And know going into it you're not going to be dining on filet mignon.

For once, just eat the fucking beefsteak.

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Key Tracks:
Invaders Must Die
Thunder
Stand Up