In this world where things are not always what they seem—where Las Vegas is sometimes positioned as a family destination and Lucky Charms are supposedly “part of a complete, balanced breakfast”—we feel a certain relief when we run across something that makes no bones about what it is and what it does (even if what it is and does is horrible). Bacon cheeseburgers, for instance, do not pretend to be health food.
The techno hip-hop duo LMFAO is kinda like that.
You’re not going to get deep introspection with LMFAO, a band whose profane acronymic moniker comes from the text abbreviation “laughing my f‑‑‑ing a‑‑ off.” Instead, members Redfoo and SkyBlu (a son and a grandson, respectively, of Motown founder Barry Gordy) are all about the party. They live to party, party to live. And when one party inevitably winds down, they just find another. Their debut release, Party Rock, was described by the Los Angeles Times as “14 virtually interchangeable odes to night life.” And despite the fact that their current album is dubbed Sorry for Party Rocking, it’s pretty obvious they’re not sorry at all.
Take LMFAO’s hit, “Party Rock Anthem,” for example, an infectious earworm that makes Rebecca Black’s “Friday” look like a probing existential examination of unmet adolescent desire. “Party rock is in the house tonight,” the song begins. “Everybody just have a good time.” That hedonistic suggestion neatly sums up the song’s plot and theme—after which Redfoo and SkyBlu amp up the crass factor.
“Looking for ya’ girl?” SkyBlu asks. “She on my jock/Nonstop when we in the spot/Booty moving’ weight like she own the block.” Redfoo then announces he’s “running through these hoes like Drano.”
A salute to drink and sex comes next: “One mo shot for us (another round)/Please fill up my cup (don’t mess around)/We just wanna see (ya shake it now)/Now you home with me (ya naked now).”
The balance of the track merely offers more where that came from.
Riffing on the zombie movie 28 Days Later and paying homage to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video at the same time, this song’s video opens with Redfoo and SkyBlu waking from hospitalized comas (brought about, we’re told, by “excessive party rocking”) to find the streets deserted. Seems that the day after they lapsed into unconsciousness, “Party Rock Anthem” was released, and now everyone in the world (except those fortunate few wisely wearing earplugs) is obsessed with “shuffling”—dancing in LMFAO lingo. Soon, a horde of zombified dancers shuffle out into the streets and dance as if their little zombified lives depended on it.
Women wear skimpy outfits (singer Lauren Bennett wears a particularly busty and leggy silver lingerie number), little kids dance to sexual lyrics and Redfoo grabs a bottle of Cherry Tree Cola (a fermented soft drink). One of the dancers appears to be dressed up as Jesus, wearing a medallion that appears to include the word “sex.”
Now, I won’t go as far as LMFAO itself did in its video and suggest that listening to the band’s music will turn you into a mindless zombie. If I did, though, would you promise to avoid it? Take your chances with a bacon cheeseburger, not “Party Rock Anthem.”
Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.
