When the diem has been carpe’d and the smoke has all but cleared, to the victor will go the spoils. In today’s musical landscape, damn near anything goes and the more outrageous, the better. This is the mantra of L.A.-based electro-hop weirdoes LMFAO, and they bring it to the point when it can no longer be brought, which in their case is almost nonstop.
LMFAO is a trippy party-boy duo sent to this great earth to bring the party and rock in droves until there can be no more. The group consists of rapper/DJs Redfoo—aka Stefan Kendal Gordy, and SkyBlu—aka Skyler Gordy. Redfoo is born of Berry Gordy’s loins, SkyBlu is ‘Foo’s nephew, which has them swimming together in the founder of Motown Record’s gene pool. The inception of their band name came from SkyBlu’s grandma after an endearing chat convo in which he mentioned naming the band “Sexy Dudes.” She cutely replied, “LMFAO.” Hazzah!
As a rule of thumb, these crazy fuckers live like there is no tomorrow and have given birth to the “Party Rock” lifestyle. As a testament to how hard they party, SkyBlu took a swing at former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on a flight back in February of last year. He was removed and life ultimately went on. Every way of life needs an anthem not only to articulate the intensity of its daily activity, but also to etch an image into everyone’s brain synonymous with partying like fucking crazy. With that ideal comes their latest single, properly titled “Party Rock Anthem.”
The song is loud, bright, fun and No. 1 on the U.K. Top 40 for the fourth consecutive week. The LMFAO trend may not be as popular in the U.S.—the song is No. 52 on the Billboard Hot 100. But being in the middle of the road isn’t so bad; that just means there’s room for improvement.
The song breaks in immediately with a hot synth beat that grabs the ear and yells into it, “Party Rock is in the house tonight/Everybody just have a good time” over and over again. It stops the heart for a second when the beat drops. Once it comes back in, it’s an effervescent rejuvenation of the soul leading the body to beg for the Running Man and other break dancing moves.
‘Foo and SkyBlu’s voices complement each other perfectly. They trade off throughout the song seamlessly and rock the party like two maestros getting the masses frothing. Accentuated by uptempo bass and a hint of house, the contact high from this song is hard to recover from.
The best part about the entire track: No auto-tune. These dudes come correct and leave correct; enough said.
This single is further complemented by an equally awesome video posted to the duo’s webpage. It follows the same premise as “28 Days Later,” but with a party-time twist. A caveat to the vid exclaims: “On March 1, LMFAO’s Redfoo and SkyBlu slipped into comas after excessive party rocking. The next morning, their new single ‘Party Rock Anthem’ was released to the world.” With that, they wake from their comas and work to blend in with the shufflin’ “zombies” around them. It’s the next best thing to skankin—a foot-moving outlet for ska fans and rude boys since the ’60s.
The video is vibrant and colorful in every way. The duo’s fancy footwork and exemplified panache make it palatable. Though there is an overabundance of florescent colors and tight jeans, it’s a breath of fresh air compared to the tit-filled, glam gob-shite being put out by some of today’s more established artists in America.
These boys are getting established. Their success in the U.K. and an increasing presence in the U.S. equal sheer awesomeness on a grand scale. If there was ever need to get up and dance to something that isn’t the run-of-the-mill crap played on MTV, LMFAO is the ticket to such. They get their party-boy kicks with altercations on airplanes with national delegates and waking to a dancing zombie apocalypse. LMFAO is on to something hot with their big hair and tight, colorful pants. With cameos alongside Lady Gaga and Chris Cornell, the only thing left now is to party hard with Andrew W.K., dirty shirts and all.
