Party Rock Mansion

Album review

There are so many ways to look at Redfoo. He's the youngest son of Motown founder Berry Gordy, Jr., he's one half of LMFAO, he's that crazy-haired contestant on season 20 of Dancing with the Stars, or he's the guy who starred in both Potheads: The Movie plus Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip. He's almost a pop culture concept more than a real, live dude, and while albums -- and solo albums at that -- might just seem like extra add-ons dashed off to sell at the Redfoo mall kiosk, Party Rock Mansion is filled with crafted, party-worthy trash. If that sounds derogatory, this album includes the songs "Booty Man," "Juicy Wiggle," and the misguided but wonderful one-note joke "Good Things Happen When Ya Drunk." Alcoholism and liver failure have no place in the Party Rock Mansion, and on the shameless pop-trap track "New Thang," a saxophone solo is accompanied by the chant "get saxy, baby, get saxy," but all these lunkheaded moments are delivered with the hooks, whimsy, and swagger of LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem." Speaking of cloying, that megahit gets mentioned throughout the album, as if it were a religion, but it's just a way to fill the space between new lyrical steez, such as "Cruisin' down the strand like 'What's Up?'/Girlies in the sand tannin' butts" ("Beach Cruisin'") and the undisputable "I'm calling all my ravers, dressed in candy flavors/I'm calling all my hipsters, too cool to be my listeners." ("Party Train"). Stevie Wonder shows up for the pleasant "Where the Sun Goes," and the closing "Maybe" is a soft piano number that proves Redfoo can do more, but the rest of glittery party rock suggests he needn't bother, in the same way listeners are fine when Technotronic just pumped up the jam. Those who made it all the way to LMFAO's third single, "Sexy and I Know It," should keep going and hole up in the Party Rock Mansion for a weekend. It's a place where forgetting your troubles is as easy as forgetting that you don't dance very well, so think of it as the techno-pop version of the Ellen show with much more drinking and plenty of butts.

© David Jeffries /TiVo