3OH!3 - Streets of Gold

3OH!3
Streets of Gold
Photo Finish/Atlantic
C+




After Want being a guilty pleasure of mine for the past year or so, I had high hopes for whether or not 3OH!3 could somehow deliver on the hype created by the huge following Want had created for them. The verdict? While most of the tongue-in-cheek humor is still intact, the boys in 3OH!3 opted to go for a slower feel on this album as a whole, making it slightly less catchy and riddling it with uncharacteristically bad lyricism in the process.

Streets of Gold is in many ways the older brother to Want. While stylistically much of what made this duo appealable to the masses is still there, it really is just presented in a different way. Right off the bat, “I Can Do Anything” blends often juvenile humor with a dramatically slower and less busy background arrangement. This is the recipe seemingly followed by most of this record. And while stripping down your sound might work for other rappers, 3OH!3 just doesn’t pack the same punch with a simpler approach to beats, lyrics and hooks. Tracks like “House Party” and “We Are Young” prove to be prime examples of misses on this album. Sure, the boys weave in a bit of humorously catchy words to beckon the ears of those with a similar humor palate, but in many cases the words are just not there to keep us interested.

Oddly though, lead single “My First Kiss”, featuring Ke$ha, shines moments of indisputable infectiousness despite any dislike for said musical guest. And in many cases, the approach of opening things up in terms of sounds ends up paying off. A chill vibe actually enhances the impact of “I Can Do Anything” and the admittedly out-of-nowhere “Double Vision”. Streets of Gold isn’t a complete flub, as there are still moments of solid party-inducing pop-hop here.

The short version of my reaction to this record is that while it is certainly a letdown and arguably a side-step for 3OH!3, ending their ride of popularity in slow, drawn out style. Sometimes you evolve and it works out, but sometimes evolving just isn’t the right thing to do.