Lionrock - City Delirious

After hearing this album finally (almost a year after its release), I'm convinced that it could have easily taken off nearly as much as Fatboy Slims new release had it been given the proper chance. Back on their first release, An Instinct For Detection, they broke loose with 2 discs worth of slammin' big-beat-esque songs, and showed they had quite a knack for the catchy hook.

City Delirious is no different. While the first track is a fairly by-the-numbers track with robotic vocal snippets, the group reaches their stride more fully on the second track "Rude Boy Rock." It grooves along with an old swinging sort of sample, then the horns kick in an it's a rolicking good time. MC Buzz B is back again on a couple tracks (quite a few less than on the last release, though, which is fortunate for those that don't really care for vocals), including the album title track. It's light and fun and the speedy delivery on the vocals adds to the track quite nicely. Probably the next most infectious track on the album also coincidentally (or perhaps not) includes some nice horn samples. "Scatter & Swing" is another mid-tempo track that you really can't help but move your booty to. "A Cellar Full Of Noise" is also a standout track with it's B-movie sound effect and fuzz guitar laid over the top of it all.

One thing this album manages to do a lot better than the last outing is change up styles a little more. Instead of relentless pounding tracks, there are a few mellow interludes that are nice. There's also a lot less 4/4 beats than the last disc and the change-up rhythyms work to an advantage. If the disc has one fault is that things get a little repetitive once in awhile, but it's no worse than anything else I've heard in the genre. Still, it's a great listen, and probably even more solid than the debut.

Rating: 7.5

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