Ke$ha :: "Animal"

As you heard on the Enter The Shell Show, this kid Ke$ha has been dominating the charts! And we all know the radio is the perfect place to find good music, right!? Well, I decided to cave in and see what all the fuss is about (I had yet to hear a song by this girl before writing this review). I gotta say, this will probably be my biggest guilty pleasure of 2010 … and I’m totally ashamed to say it.

Dance records aren’t really known for their lyrics and in this case, the same is true. But Ke$ha finds herself amidst the biggest, bubble gum poppiest beats in Animal. I have even seen numerous comparisons to Lady Gaga, which I would probably consider an honor if I cared one bit about Lady Gaga. At any rate, I had to try very hard to keep myself from dancing like an animal in my car when this album was playing.

Ke$ha’s voice reminds me of Uffie, someone I’m not very familiar with but I know I liked her voice when I heard it on Justice’s “TTTHHHEEE PPPAAARRRTTTYYY.” Uffie’s voice is a little more scratchy whereas Ke$ha sounds like she has a bit more smoothness to hers.

Upon hearing the first song, “Your Love Is My Drug,” I immediately heard the Lady Gaga and Uffie similarities. Not only that though; Ke$ha reminds me of one of those little Disney pop stars but on crack. The lyrics are beyond cheesy (“So, I gotta question/Do you wanna have a slumber party in my basement?”) but damn, the beat and chorus are so freakin’ big that I caught myself (and still catch myself) dancing along. This song definitely starts Animal off at a sprint and gets you ready for an album full of danceable tracks.

Her furiously popular single “Tik Tok” is the next track and totally dominates your ears just as it has dominated the radio waves for the past couple of months. This track is filled to the brim by those fuzzy synthesizers and quick “cymbals” that get your butt moving. The bridge is considerably slower, making the auto tune she’s using a lot more noticeable but the build-up serves its purpose and gets the song moving right away after a couple short claps. It’s no wonder this song is so freakin’ popular!

“Take It Off” is the third song and sounds a little different than the first three tracks but it’s becoming a favorite of mine off of Animal. Her voice is blanketed in a thick robotic effect for the intro then the verses get interesting when she flexes her vocal range and gets pretty deep … but I’m sure the studio effects are a great help! Either way, it sounds kinda cool. The song isn’t as upbeat as the first two because it sounds a lot more like a rave than a pop song. Plus, that snake charmer melody (“There’s a Place in France“) totally gets you hooked.

Did she just say that? Yes, in “Blah Blah Blah” featuring 3OH!3. Take a lesson from Ke$ha in Really Bad Lyrics 101: “I don’t really care where you live at/Just turn around, boy, let me hit that/Don’t be a little bitch with your chit-chat/Just show me where your dick’s at!” Curse Ke$ha and her ridiculous lyrics! Seriously, if she (or whoever is writing for her) were a better writer I wouldn’t be so embarrassed to dance to these kick-ass beats. Yelling out “Holla!” and “Pee-yemp” randomly in the background of your songs apparently makes you popular. I guess you can’t really judge a pop/dance singer for that; she gets you moving, therefore getting her job done.

I can’t say it enough times … I’ve NEVER been so embarrassed to like an album. Not even when I discovered Owl City (that’s right, I said it). I know it’s horrible. But I am such a sucker for big beats and Animal is full of them. If you’re into dance records and don’t want to think too much about what this artist’s views are on Darfur, pick this one up.

Other Highlights:
“Backstabber”
“Kiss N Tell”

Buy the album at our record store on Amazon

Here are some other pages you may be interested in:

• Covers Revue: Blink 182 cover Billy Idol
• Album Review: My Dinosaur Life by Motion City Soundtrack
• Musication, Vol. 9
• Catching Up with … Lucy Schwartz
• The Enter the Shell Show – Enter the EP, Vol. 4