The Last Word: Wait, So This Satellite Party Nonsense Is Actually Happening?

Brian Raftery | May 29, 2007 11:35 am
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Every week, we round up the all-important, all-summarizing last sentences of the biggest new-music reviews. Today’s entry is the Satellite Party’s Ultra Payloaded, which makes contact with spaceship Earth today:

– “[Perry Farrell]’s still trying to loosen people up — ‘Whatever’s in your closet, set it free,’ he urges in ‘Kinky’ — but there’s nothing dark or scary about it, just the old countercultural creed that fun is revolutionary. Mr. Farrell has become the happy hippie that Jim Morrison never was.” [NYT] – “Despite the pretense (and his happily spacey lyrics), this is Farrell’s mightiest work since [Porno for Pyros’] Good God’s Urge. It throbs (‘Hard Life Easy’), coughs (‘Awesome’) and slithers (‘Kinky’) gracefully with Bettencourt’s razor-like leads playing Ronson to Farrell’s Bowie (ca. Ziggy days)–only dirtier and slightly funkier.” [Harp] – “At least Farrell got the chance to chart new territory on the album. He sings a few windy ballads in a more conventional voice than usual. But, like everything here, it’s a world best left unexplored.” [NY Daily News] – “In the end, it’s all interesting.” [Billboard]