Girl Talk - Feed the Animals

Let me get the fact that Greg Gillis jumped on the In Rainbows bandwagon out of the way. I'm happy about it. If groups aren't afraid to be branded as copycats, then maybe the floodgates will open -- or at least some sort of tiny faucet will turn on.

This album seems more like a sequel then just another LP. It's, of course, not a sophomore album. Girl Talk released other albums before Night Ripper, but that's what put him on the map. It is also when he started sampling heavily from straight pop and developed his current style. Feed the Animals feels like a sequel, and Night Ripper's recipe begged to be copied and expanded. Listeners had a mental list of hopeful artists as soon as they heard it. In Gillis' recent release we get Hendrix belting his most famous line and Jay Z over Radiohead. Then we also get tracks that have a history of showing in mashups like Ghetto Superstar, but with 10-20 songs per track, you could probably find overlap even with Guitar Hero (you can).

The sequel doesn't disappoint. Songs dance in from all corners and attack nostalgic nerves (Give Me a Beat has Tom Petty), and some combinations work like magic (Like This has Lil' Mama over Metallica). Feed the Animals doesn't break any new ground, but it doesn't have to. It's well polished, and the bits of annoyance from the quick changing tracks from before aren't there. Everything lasts a bit longer, and transitions come right where they should. A bit of me wishes that we'd hear something outside the Hip-Hop-over-Classic-Rock/Indie formula that dominates the record, but there's no reason in fixing something that not only works but still rocks. It's comforting to know that house parties will still have a great soundtrack, and even more exciting to know that Gillis will have a twice as much recognizable material when performing.

You don't really have a choice. Get the album. You'll hear it soon enough.