Fun Lovin' Criminals Albums (5)
What The Critics Say
Fun Lovin' Criminals are the sound of cigarettes being lit. Ever since England embraced the New York band as its own, the Criminals have tailored their sound like you would a good suit -- tweaking the seams of the grooves for continued late-night appeal. Sly frontman Huey's bedroom voice slithers with a threatening tone; you can't trust this handsome criminal, but damn does he throw great parties. Similarly, most of Welcome to Poppy's is like watching a 1968 Lincoln Continental drive by in slow motion -- nice and easy, and ultra cool. If this is all starting to sound like the treatment for Guy Ritchie's next East End crime caper, then the Criminals have likely done their job. "Stray Bullet" sells the same street-level politics as Moby's "South Side," but sexes it up with the disco thump of Stereo MC's' "Connected." "Lost it All" stylizes East Coast hardcore by marrying its gritty guitar aggression to more calculated whispering from Huey -- that this is successful at all proves the instrumental chops that stabilize FLC's affected veneer. They run confidently through '70s softcore love rock, sample Das EFX and Whodini, and cop the talking blues of Lou Reed's New York for "Steak Knife." Of course, crime doesn't always pay -- Welcome to Poppy's is at least five songs too long. "This Sick World" is uncomfortably preachy after the hedonism of the album's first half, and when a couple of closing ballads try to prove again that every thug needs a lady, the results are more awkward than Saturday night's leather pants on a sunny Sunday morning. As with 1998's 100% Colombian, Fun Lovin' Criminals are much more successful when they're selling their city's excess and possibilities. Even if their product is partly parody, it's attractive for squares. The atmospheric "Friday Night" might be the best example on Welcome to Poppy's. Suggestively funky and slightly soulful, the track shimmers like neon in the fresh rain as Huey describes his typical night out. "We don't wait on the line, we don't pay for the drinks," he says. "Y'all can't mess with us 'cause where you never been I'm in." ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Smooth New York jazz rappers Fun Lovin' Criminals have quietly built their popularity stateside and particularly in Europe over the last six years by wrapping their tales of the Big Apple's underbelly with sweet grooves and live instrumentation akin to Cake, the Roots, and Luscious Jackson. The smoothness of their grooves and underground culture has always been just a stone's throw away from lounge-lizard heaven. With Mimosa, the band gives in to their Velveeta-smooth cheese urges and delivers a quirky collection of far-out covers and retoolings of their own songs. It's an interesting collection, and works best when they stick to their own material. Reworked originals like "Scooby Snacks" and the excellent "I Can't Get With That" have a great, easy, witty feel not terribly far from the original recordings. Some tracks, like "The Summer Wind," with the surprising guest Ian McCullough, showcase the band's strong live performances. Others are just plain whacked out, like the ultra-wimpy '70s weepers "I'm Not In Love" and "Shining Star" (not the Earth, Wind & Fire song, another one). It seems like they might have taken a miscue from Cake, whose 1996 cover of "I Will Survive" is both hilarious but true to the spunk of the original. These covers lack the irony or campiness needed to make it interesting. ~ Theresa E. LaVeck, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Fun Lovin' Criminals got a lot of mileage out of their Scorsese-meets-Beasties-meets-Reservoir Dogs shtick on their first full-length album, Come Find Yourself. Their stoned, funky grooves brought them an MTV hit in America and, inexplicably, critical acclaim in the U.K., where their New York attitude came across as...well, not genuine, but at least an authentic parody from a knowing source. Eventually, the British acclaim eclipsed the moderate U.S. success, so it shouldn't be surprising that they tailored their follow-up, 100% Colombian, to the very things the British press loved -- the tongue-in-cheek humor, the cartoonish gangsterism, the dope, the funk- and rap-inflected grooves, the cheeky pop culture references. It's a little jazzier, a little slower, a little more cinematic than its predecessor, which means it's more cohesive, as well as more sonically appealing. Of course, it's possible that the average listener -- one who wasn't charmed or amused by Come Find Yourself and "Scooby Snacks" -- will never discover this, since Huey's self-satisfied rapping and smug lyrics can be exceptionally grating if you're not smirking along with him. But if his '70s mob movie fetishism and ironic celebration of da streets uv Noo Yawk seem humorous, chances are 100% Colombian will feel even better than Come Find Yourself. Everything's cool, everything's shmoove, put the money in the bag. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
