Red Hot Chili Peppers - Look Around

For bands who've been in the game as long as the Chilis have, there's an easy temptation to fall back on your laurels and play to your strengths, putting out track after track that pushes all the boxes while rarely pushing the envelope and exploring new avenues.

And in a way, this comes as both a blessing and curse. New single Look Around marks a step back in the right direction after the cringe-inducing, overly indulgent The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie - but it also plays out like a kind of Chili Peppers box-ticking exercise with every trademark element of their sound neatly slotted in.

Funky guitar and basslines, all there. Nonsensical rap elements, chalk that up on the board too. Oh, and why not chuck in a throwaway 'hustle me bitch and you best beware' lyric too. Look Around is classic Chili Peppers, and it undoubtedly sounds good, but only because it follows so closely in the footsteps of their far greater previous hits - in this instance, the ghost of This Is The Place feels particularly close.

You're left craving the original article, how unashamedly thrilling By The Way sounded when it hit stores back in 2002. Ten years on, the Chilis march resolutely on, but playing catch-up on their own past.

Look Around is released on the 5th March.

Red Hot Chili Peppers announce Knebworth/Stadium of Light dates

In the rock world, you don't get much bigger than the Red Hot Chili Peppers playing not just one, but two, massive live dates. The esteemed Stadium of Light up in Sunderland and the legendary Knebworth - both are to play host to all kinds of Chili Peppers' based antics next June.

Picture it now, the sun sweltering down, the band launching into the chorus of Dani California. Epic doesn't even begin to cover it. The band's bassist perhaps puts it best: “Hell yeah! I just wanna explode.”

The band's famous Hyde Park dates in 2005 became the highest grossing gigs at a single venue, ever. Now there's an impressive record - and one that sets the group in good stead for the shows next year.

Tickets for the gigs go on sale on the 4th November and can be ordered here: www.seetickets.com

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Monarchy of Roses

Now this is more like it! After the tired-sounding, peppers-by-the-numbers vibes of The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie, the chilis get round to releasing a single far more befitting their status as one of the biggest, most enduringly popular bands in the world.

Monarchy of Roses is surprisingly something of a big departure from the traditional sound of the band, but crucially, it sounds brilliant. Where Maggie sounded bored and lazy, Monarchy of Roses is fantastically alive with energy. Packing a quasi-disco beat and biting guitars, it's a dynamic new direction for the band, but one that continues to sell them as exciting and worth paying attention to.

Monarchy of Roses is released on the 14th November.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Adventures Of Raindance Maggie

And the prize for the most random track title of 2011 goes to the Red Hot Chili Peppers! Seriously though, what's all this Raindance business about?

Indecipherable collections of words aside, the jury's out on whether the Chili's big comeback track is good or not. Because it comes down to precisely that - it doesn't sound 'big' enough.

Remember when Dani California came out - a tune of such immensity that it still receives mind-boggling amounts of airplay on radio stations everywhere to this day. Dani California was a masterful example of how to create a rock anthem, but new single Adventures... just sounds like the Chili's running on autopilot - a Peppers-by-the-numbers if you will.

Funky base - check. Cowbell - check. Jagged, scratchy guitar hooks - check. All the ingredients are there, but when the chorus kicks in at just over a minute into the song, it just feels achingly flat.

With a band as monumental as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, when they come back from a long absence, you want so much for them to be there with something brilliant, something fantastically fresh - but instead we're left with Adventures..., which truth be told sounds like a second-rate b-side or album track.

When you think of the Chili's at their very best (and boy have they had some amazing moments), you think of the big, anthemic, singalong choruses. The Adventures Of Raindance Maggie? It's only 50% there...

The band's new album I'm With You is out on the 26th August and can be pre-ordered here.

New releases round-up - 18th July 2011

Snoop Dogg - Boom

Just like The Saturdays before him, Snoop Dogg turns to a classic Yazoo track for his latest single - the merits of which being that you can't really go wrong with it in there. While not quite up there with Sweat/Wet for levels of sheer sleaze, this remains a big summer anthem.

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Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Adventures Of Rain Dance Maggie

I wanted so much for the Chili's new single to be absolutely amazing, but truth be told, I wasn't convinced on first listen. While all the trademark sounds in place - the only thing missing is a big chorus, and Adventures... just feels lacking. The band's landmark Stadium Arcadium album defined 2006 with its endless stream of catchy hits, and five years on from that, you can't help but feel the band could have delivered something a little more dynamic for their big comeback. Still, with a band of their calibre, there remains a benchmark of quality - and Adventures... remains quite capable of holding its own against singles from groups half the Chili Pepper's age.

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Chase & Status feat. Tinie Tempah – Hitz

The sixth (Yes, sixth!) single from the production duo's massive album, this one's a goody - Tinie Tempah is something of the man of the moment right now and his 'The only thing bigger, blacker, slicker... is a Taxi' rap in this is brilliant. Moving away from the synth-heavy behemoths of Let You Go and Blind Faith, Hitz is instead all vocal samples and low, menacing stabs of brass. Great stuff once again from the Chase & Status lads.

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Kylie Minogue - The Albums (2000-2010)

A timely box set release collecting together her last five studio albums to celebrate Kylie's remarkable decade as the Princess of Pop. It's amazing to think that a song like Spinning Around is over ten years old now, a calling card from another age. Yet it's indelible pop charm remains, as does the vigour and breezy sense of fun Kylie injects all these albums with. Whether its the likes of Light Years and Fever which rejuvenated her career or the fan favourites Body Language and X, there's one thing you can be assured of with this collection - some of the best pop music ever made.

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