Major Lazer – 'Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do' review
No illusions are being shattered here by revealing that, regardless of what the press release tells us, Major Lazer is not a Jamaican commando who lost his arm in the secret Zombie War of 1984. Instead, it is lauded Philadelphia producer Diplo, most famous for shaping MIA’s records, and London knob-twiddler Switch, whose retrofuturist Caribbean bleeps added the substance to Santigold’s high-fashion debut.
Here they combine to make a darkly propulsive modern dancehall record with various Jamaican luminaries. While large chunks of the lyrics are preoccupied by the more gynaecological end of sex that only a vigorously horny 13-year-old boy would find titillating (sample lyric: “Don’t you like it when I shift your drawers one side and stuff my stiff dick inside your fat pussy”), this is compensated by some inspired production: Hold the Line’s sampling of all things telephonic is gloriously wonky, and the sound of a screaming toddler put through an autotune demands to be heard. Far from brilliant, but still with moments of insane genius, Guns will do until its creators find new pop protégés to groom.
7/10
