'This Island' by Le Tigre

By Jessica Labrador
Special to The Advertiser

The Verdict: Three. Energetic and excessively fun but fails to meet expectations.

Released: Oct. 19

Style: Rock and pop.

Rewind: "After Dark."

Skip it: "Don't Drink Poison."

My view: For the past six years, Le Tigre has supplied fans with catchy dance beats, spastic keyboard hyperactivity and feminist themes. After two independent releases, the band offers its highly anticipated, major-label debut.

"This Island" begins with the super catchy "On the Verge." Within seconds, you'll find yourself moving to the song's energetic blast of percussion. You'll feel the urge to throw your fist in the air and chant the well-built-up chorus "We're on the verge of ... All right!"

With the current stir of politics and Le Tigre's liberal reputation, something of a politically charged nature was bound to be included. By the second track, front woman Kathleen Hanna is already voicing her disparagement in the anti-Bush anthem "Seconds." Hanna's opinion of the president is simply expressed in the chorus with the words "You make me sick sick sick sick."

"New Kicks" is a fusion of a heavy beat and samples of political statements. Again, nothing too insightful. The samples recognize problems, minus actual answers.

Le Tigre's signature super danceable disco-outbursts and anthemic choruses can be heard in the notably fun tracks "After Dark" and "T.K.O." "After Dark" is the first song on the album that isn't dominated by Hanna's yelling, but rather by her pleasant singing voice. Both are great pop songs capable of appealing to various audiences.

In "Nanny Nanny Boo Boo," the band does something it has never done before — actually incorporate rapping into a song, which fails to sound like anything worth respecting. Also, the words "Nanny nanny boo boo" repeat throughout the song and succeed in sounding completely silly and purposeless.

With its hyper rendition of The Pointer Sisters' hit "I'm So Excited," the band gains back some of the respect lost in its ambiguous politics and repetition — it's a cover not many bands would be capable of doing.

Along with major-label success comes major-label production quality — something that compromises the lo-fi charm of Le Tigre's previous albums.

Jessica Labrador is a senior at Waialua High School.