STILL SUCKS

Album review

Reaching full self-awareness with Still Sucks, nu-metal veterans Limp Bizkit stage an unlikely comeback as hard-to-hate underdogs after a decade-long hiatus. A charming dose of fan service, the set delivers exactly what one would expect from the kings of late-'90s mook rock: fat beats and head-smashing riffs backing Fred Durst's cheeky raps and endearingly imperfect singing. Building an empire on unbridled anger, sophomoric humor, and an obnoxious defiance born from a massive chip on Durst's shoulder, the band were on top of the world at the turn of the millennium. As the tides turned and nu-metal lost traction to the style and substance of the early-aughts rock revivalists, Limp Bizkit attempted an artistic evolution with the underappreciated Unquestionable Truth and Gold Cobra, which was too little too late. Ten years later -- in the midst of a nu-metal revival driven by nostalgic youths who weren't even old enough to remember Woodstock '99 -- enough time had passed to soften public opinion, and Durst, guitar virtuoso Wes Borland, bassist Sam Rivers, drummer John Otto, and DJ Lethal returned to a surprisingly eager audience hungry for unfussy rap-metal and the halcyon days when the most recognizable red hat was Durst's backwards Yankees cap.
Once one of the most reviled frontmen in popular music, the now father and film auteur has set aside the Napoleon complex and penchant for tantrums, accepting his band's status in history with self-effacing wit and a very meta viewpoint on tracks like "Dirty Rotten Bizkit" and the hilarious "Love the Hate," which finds him trading disses with a Bizkit-hating emcee in a style similar to "All in the Family." To silence critics and drive the point home that they are truly unfazed, he reveals, "The joke's on you/You missed one clue: we don't give a f*ck." Elsewhere, on the explosive "Out of Style," a matured Durst atones for past band drama, pleading, "We should be on the same team/If we ain't, then we're nothing" atop a twin scratch-and-riff attack provided by Lethal and Borland. These classic Bizkit ragers are balanced by tracks such as the intimate cover of the 1982 INXS song "Don't Change," the plaintive, pop-leaning "Goodbye," and the dour Alice in Chains-lite "Empty Hole." They even attempt full-on grunge with "Barnacle," bringing the goals of 2011's "My Own Cobain" to reality. Stretching further, "You Bring Out the Worst in Me" echoes the beauty-and-brutality approach perfected by fellow nu-metal survivors Deftones, while the caustic "Pill Popper" incorporates the mainstream industrial crunch of onetime antagonist and "Hot Dog" muse Trent Reznor. Still Sucks stands as a fun and highly enjoyable addition to the band's discography, delivering exactly what a Limp Bizkit listener wants to hear.

© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo