Family Force 5 Albums (3)
'Dance or Die with a Vengeance'
Release Date 5/19/2009
Tracks 14
Label Transparent
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Just like the first time around, Family Force Five remixed their entire sophomore album and issued it as a separate record about a year after the LP's release. Dance or Die with a Vengeance does indeed deliver some of the hard-edge thrills promised in its title, its beats and its very texture exaggerated in every regard, but there's not reinvention here, only amplification -- something that will please dyed-in-the-wool FFF fans, but nobody else. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
If you can consider it progress to go from sounding like Limp Bizkit to Duran Duran, then Dance or Die might just be your cup of tea. Call it another round of "phun" with a capital "PH" from the wildly popular crunk-rock quintet. The guys are a novelty act, this time spinning their dancefloor routine with a distinctively '80s motif. Until you hear their unlikely blend of Finger Eleven, Orgy, the Killers, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, you might not believe it's possible -- but Dance or Die pulls it off with style. The key to finding the meaning behind the album is not to do so. There is but one message, and that's having a wildly good time. There's nothing else beneath the surface -- which is fine, since Family Force 5 never claim to be larger than they really are. The only disappointment is the lo-fi production compared to their debut. ~ Jared Johnson, All Music Guide
'Business Up Front/Party in the Back'
Release Date 1/1/2006
Tracks 12
Label Gotee
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
How do you know that Family Force 5 are a funny bunch of fellows? Well, they name their album after everybody's favorite haircut, the Mullet, for one -- and if that didn't tip you off, there's also the fact that they have a drummer called "Crouton." The band's manifesto is unleased on its MySpace page: "They decided to make world history by playing an concoction of blended sounds!! Our music b uplifting and has a great message!" (sic). Well, Family Force 5 do indeed play a concoction of blended sounds which, to the untrained ear, may sound like metallic riffs and rap rhythms learned from Limp Bizkit, but given a tongue-in-cheek makeover by piling up all sorts sounds from the '80s, from analog synths to the theme from Knight Rider to harmonies lifted from urban soul records to Beastie Boys samples to Speak & Spells, which are heard on about three tracks and name-dropped in the opener, "Cadillac Phunque." And their music is indeed uplifting, if your definition of uplifting is, to paraphrase Eddie Murphy, partying all the time -- and that pretty much happens to be their message, too, since every one of the 12 songs on Business Up Front is about having a good time (even the "X-Girlfriend" and bitchy "Drama Queen" seem to get smacked down; they won't get with the program and party). So, Family Force 5 don't take things too seriously, which is fair enough -- rock & roll gets boring when bands get serious. And, man, do Family Force 5 try to be funny! All three singers -- Soul Glow Activatur, Crouton, and Fatty -- sing in goofy voices that occasionally come across like the privileged bullies mocking the needy. They ironically sing "You cannot stop the body rock/You cannot stop the funk." They steal lines, even phrasing, from the Beasties, they tell all the ugly people to "put ur hands down." The jokes fly so fast and furious that it gets a little tiring, but they do manage a few hooks that stick ("Kountry Gentlemen" and "X-Girlfriend" chief among them). And they do have some musical acumen, enough to make Business Up Front/Party in the Back reasonable background noise at a party. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
