New Kids on the Block – The Block
One of the worst things in modern music is the lack of craftsmanship, so it’s refreshing to see a band take the time required to really do things properly. The fourteen years since the last New Kids album has been very much put to good use, with this dazzling return to form justifying their insistence on time and craftsmanship.
No other group I can think of show such musical sophistication as New Kids, with their ability to move seemlessly between genres, all the while digesting and exploring, second to none. This new album shows genuine musical innovation as they incorporate elements of classic R&B, punchier new hip hop flavours – or ‘flavaz’! – mixed intriguingly with the angsty dance atmospheres of the Pet Shop Boys and, of course, classic disco.
This new maturity extends to the narrative sculpting of the album as well. A thoughful, more sophisticated approach to their lyrical output results in a nuanced emotional trajectory for the record that is as subtly and carefully constructed as any great novel. They lead us from the solitary self-doubt of Single, touching on themes such as the alienating effects of modern society and the resulting quest for approval in places which will never satisfy, to the more pressing political topics of the day with swaggering confidence. Lyrics such as ‘damn you look so good it hurts me, the design of your body is perfect, I don’t deserve you girl’ simultaneously explore the self doubt in American society, its effects on her citizens and some of the root causes of this crisis in a nation’s identity, namely the suppression of Intelligent Design in a new era of politicised public discourse.
The capacity to blend this sort of intelligent, subversive content with a musical paradigm that can move from the poignant to the pumping in a matter of moments make this one of the most complete records of the year so far, one that is as happy to ironically reference popular culture, such as the deliciously post-modern Dirty Dancing, as it is to tackle the serious issues, such as the dangers of the objectification of women in a culture so fixated with all things sexual. Because at the end of the day, all you need is New Kids and you can bring the sexy all day and all night long.
It’s been a long wait for this album, one which has seen lesser contemporaries such as Boyz II Men fall by the wayside, but with this blistering return to form New Kids have drawn a line in the sand which few current pop bands will be capable of even approaching.
New Kids on the Block- Dirty Dancing
New Kids on the Block- Sexify My Love
Website | More mp3s | Buy from Amazon
this is my favourite piece of journalism of all time!
I think I summed up the mood of the album pretty nicely, thanks.
i’m so confused!
so are you up for a pint this evening or not? same question to dylan if he’s alive.
but great journalism.
Hello Marcy, my dear. Delighted to see you here once more. Did you enjoy this album too?
(Dylan is alive and well and can be found here.)
I am up for one but only one as Neil is coming round my house to sort out their promo mailing tonight.
What just happened?
what time shall we have our one ale? i.e. when do you finish?
The public gets what the public wants, Bartovich, you know that. Customer’s always right and all that.
I distinctly remember you suggesting I review this album, so review it I did.
That’s the best review I’ve read all year.
Why yes, yes I think it is.
No, seriously, what just happened?
This is genius…
i’m buying it. you’ve convinced me.
At last NKotB get the respect they deserve. “Give Me A Reason” says more about love and loss than your Marvin Gayes or your Aretha Franklins.
Quite right TED. Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin = shit.
I think you can probably expect a massive payout from the amazon affiliate scheme after this one… well done
Can you check something on the liner notes for me; is there a credit for Antares AutoTune on lead vocals?
I praise you, Toad. Good, Very, very good.
Oh, so that was what you were doing last night instead of meeting me at James Yorkston/Malcolm Middleton etc.
You chose well…..
At last, we get Matthew to be honest in a record review. I for one, am so sick of his endless pandering to the music industry wankers. Well done! It feels good, doesn’t it? xoxo
Tart, don’t even begin to go there.
Sorry, can’t type a response through the tears…
My colleague just walked past and clocked this review on my computer screen – he is now calling my entire judgement on anything into question…
He is right to do so. You used to be so indie – where are those pretensions now?
Haha!
Matthew has booby-trapped Song, By Toad for any casual viewers!
Oh shit. I should be on a bus to The Shore by now.
I can’t believe your calling pretensions into question – i remain as pretensious as ever!
Wark tonight Dylan?
I’ve received something like 30 hits from the Hype Machine today. I really wonder what those hip kids must think! And then I snigger to myself for a bit.
Brand new audience – maybe you could teach them a thing or two!!
Yes, but can you imagine the disappointment when they read any further.
(Yes, to the Wark, by the way)
serves all those hype kids right, they’re only searching for the term “sex” a anyway!
If I ever meet these fuckers on the street I’m gonna fistify their arseholes!
Hahahahahahaha.
C&B, stop being disrespectful to artists. Do you know how hard it is to put your whole heart and soul into something only for impersonal voices on the internet to be unkind about it? It’s just so hard. Anyone can criticise, C&B, but very few have the courage to create.
you know what’s going to happen, don’t you, you’re going to end up number one on the hype machine most popular list! dear jaysus, what is this world coming to?
Gosh, that was something truly special.
However, I made the mistake of reading this one BEFORE the Mummers post, so when I was reading that one it wasn’t until about half way through that I realised you were being serious…
Kind of like when you watch satirical comedy on TV and it’s followed by the news and you’re SURE Huw Edwards is pulling your leg…
Very odd indeed.
I had a HOME BOY T-shirt, & the phraswe spray painted on a stone-washed, waist-high denim jacket back in the day purely on the strength of the Hangin’ Tough video. Fuck you all.
Simply the best and funniest blog I have ever read !
Robin,
I’m not sure if you meant your comment to be sung along to Tina Turner’s classic hit The Best, but it does fit quite nicely:
Holy crap. Until now, nothing has jolted me out of my lurking habits. Well played, sir, well played.
dylan – you over that 24 hour bug now?
I feel soiled. Like someone else’s piss just ran down my leg.
I thought Donny was dead anyway?
i thought fred savage was dead until he appeared in austin powers.
True rock stars live forever.
Donnie Wahlberg died in The Sixth Sense.
No, hang on, that was Bruce Willis.
Yep, the best Toad review ever and no mistake!
Donnie Wahlberg (the “brooding” New Kid if I recall correctly) had actually gone a long way toward establishing a credible career before this. He was terrific in the HBO Band of Brothers series, for example, and I actually did find him quite unsettling in The Sixth Sense, what with his discolored tighty-whities and all. It makes me sad.
I could be completely wrong and getting my wonderful boy-pop-bands mixed up, but I’m sure one of da Kids on da Block was wearing a Bauhaus Bela Lugosi’s Dead t-shirt in one of their earlier videos. Ain’t got time to go searching youtube, so I won’t, but if anyone can confirm….
I have to admit their album is pretty good. I was surprised as an old NKOTB fan i was hoping they would change their sound and they did and its new and hip and entertaining
I actually went to their show last night and their new music and their live skills havent changed since i was 5 years old when i first saw their show.
Anyways just wanted to say great album, still a great band and i love how they still have their same fresh attitudes!
ashlena
Ker-CHING!
ha ha ha…’Don;t cross our paths ‘cos you’re gionna get stomped. they must have been glad when Vanilla ice came along and diverted some of the flak they were getting his way.
And they were to blame for take that/westlife/ boyzone etc.. etc..
And sodding BROS have reformed as well. I have revised my views on capital punishment…
Ed
Suppose any publicity is good publicity.
Dark moments for musak (sic)
Boyz II Men (fucking pet hate replacing the ’s’ with ‘z’ to make something appear cool and street).
NKOTB
Backstreet Boys
‘N Sync
Color Me Badd
I can’t wait to get this on vinyl.
Can we expect another of your genius ‘unboxing’ videos then Milo?
[...] Song, By Toad: New Kids On The Block – The Block It’s about time someone started taking these guys seriously. [...]
I don’t remember NKOTB all that well but dammit, if I haven’t always recognised them as pioneers of the bad boy genre. Thank you Matthew for a well rounded and thoughtful review of their evergreen talents. I am especially in awe of their ability to charm a girl simply through the power of words. ‘Really gotta concentrate and now we’re gonna consummate so, lets conversate’. I find it very hard to believe that anyone could fail to be swept away by those heartfelt lyrics. My hat goes off to you my friend.
They are indeed both witty and tender and any woman who could resist such poetry must have a heart of stone.
They could sexify the birds from the trees.
Oh dear. Come-uppance. This bloody post has indeed ended up on the Hype Machine’s Most Popular list. Poor, poor hipster kids.
Tremendous!
Woohoo!
Mission a-fuckin-ccomplished.
Marvellous, Matthew! Simply marvellous. Those reviewers at The Guardian (if indeed they can call themselves that) should be running scared right about now. Nice work, my friend…you nailed this one
)
Except for eighteen year old girls, I am not sure anyone has ever run scared from the Toad before.
My only gripe with “Sexify My Love” is the use of the word “conversate.” When you’re pushing 40 you ought to know better.
But it’s a brilliant song otherwise, eh China?
Not bad! Competes well with the kids, I’d say.
Yes, in one of the videos from Hangin’ Tough (they all look exactly the same)–it might be “The Right Stuff”–Jordan is wearing a Bahaus tshirt. And I think that in the same shot Joey Mac is wearing a Slayer tshirt. Just watched all the videos again. Priceless. But seriously, who the hell did their wardrobe? And their hair? No one made it out of the early 90s unscathed.
I’m going to see them in Cleveland on the 3rd. I’m unabashedly excited. I know no shame. The new album is on my ipod and I love it. Not in an ironic way but with an earnestness that only my inner twelve-year-old can comprehend.
This was a brilliant post, btw. Too few songs have shout-outs to Swayze.
I have a t-shirt from the band Saxon.
I’ve heard of Saxon but I’ve never listened to any of their stuff; I only bought the t-shirt for a fancy dress party. It was £3 on Ebay.
Anyway, it turned out to be a very comfy shirt and it was made of really rather good quality thick cotton, so it entered my regular rotation.
So one evening I’m standing at the bar in the local and all of a sudden some random fella comes up and starts blethering at me in some incomprehensible code. It was definitely English, but such words shouldn’t have appeared together in the same sentences.
After a moment I figured out that all he wanted to know was whether or not I liked the new Saxon album, and if I’d caught the band on their last tour.
I learned a valuable lesson that night.
It’s a dangerous path to tread; if your t-shirts are writing cheques your musical tastes can’t cash.
Take that as a warning. All of you.