By Melissa Krenek

CASH CASH – Love Or Lust

(Digital Heart Beat Music, cashcashmusic.com)

Love or Lust, just an empty wrapper on the dance floor

If Cobra Starship, Metro station, and Ke$ha had a baby at The Roxbury, it would be Cash Cash’s newest release, Love or Lust. Every song reeks of dirty, sweating disco love, and not in an original way. Many of the melodies are familiar, and the lack of real instruments makes these sounds odious and repetitative. With Love or Lust, Cash Cash tries to mix the essence of 90’s techno (the decade that techno was both entertaining and catchy) with the modern version of it, the mix being less than favorable. Cash Cash began their descent into dance rock with their first full length album, Take it to the Floor, featuring the single “Party in Your Bedroom.” Though this album foreshadowed the artificial sound of its successor, Take it to the Floor still had elements of real instruments, including real guitar riffs and drum beats. With the new album, all real music went out the window, and synthetic pop crack flooded in.

The first track, “Victim of Love” sets the tone for the entire album, filled with sexual situations and monotonous music. It starts with sounds reminiscent of the Night at the Roxbury soundtrack, with a cliché scenario of self mutilating love on the dance floor. The next track, “Naughty or Nice,” references the beginning of “Baby got Back,” complete with a conversation between a girl and her friend Becky, followed by a David Guetta-esque beat leading into the chorus. The chorus is just as unoriginal, playing on the infamous Christmas Carol “Santa Claus is coming to Town.” (In this instance, the boys prefer girls on the naughty list) This is insinuated through the sexual references made by featured singer, ADG, a pseudo Ke$ha, meant to add sexuality though only delivers monotone lines. Keeping with the dance flow, “Naughty or Nice” is followed by “Sexin’ on the Dance Floor”, a title that leaves little room for interpretation. Here they speak of lustful actions while two stepping, complete with the risky talk of parental disappointment. This song also features ADG, still not adding any real flavor to the sexual pot.

The next song takes a break from the sexual innuendos and focuses on a stereotypical girl that all men can’t resist, the “Jersey Girl.” Though unoriginal, due to the creation of Jersey Shore and other “reality” shows based on New Jersey women, there are moments of sincerity, especially since Cash Cash hail from Roseland New Jersey. In this song they mention the good times at the shore, “Living on a Prayer”, and the sassy attitudes of the Jersey women that are known and loved. It is the first song that is actually catchy, complete with a Katy Perry “Teenage Dream” feel, though still nothing of musical value.
This sensation fizzles, with the entry of “Wasted Love’, which starts with a mix of Ace of Base and Akon-esque sounds. Repeating the word wasted symbolizes the idea of wasting both the mind with alcohol and the heart with untrue love. Nothing new here, even referencing other famous songs about love, including Taylor Swift’s “Love Story”, Boys like Girl’s “Love Drunk” and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” Most songs that reference this number of other songs are usually parodies, sadly enough; this may not be the intention of this clan. They continue their borrowed disco flare, with “One Night Stand”, beginning with keyboard reminiscent of “Beautiful Life” from Ace of Base. Unfortunately, after this keyboard is recognized, nothing else in the song stands out. The rest of the album follows the same dirty equation, filled with recycled dance beats and auto tune galore.

As many fans might find surprising Cash Cash did not always produce this type of schlock. Back when they were The Consequence, their music was both original and intricate, especially for musicians still in high school. Songs like “Let Me In” and “Your Own Place” had real guitar solos and breakdowns, were authentic and catchy, and were successful without the use of robot voices or sleazy female vocals. Listening to this compared to the works of Cash Cash, no listener would believe it was the same group. This may be the music industries fault, shoving dance music down the throats of preteen girls, masking the idea of good music with monotone vocals and reincarnated beats. Real music, unless produced by modern legends of the industry, such as Green Day and Foo Fighters, are lost in the tornado of synth and pop. Even the name change symbolizes what the group would become, focused more on the green than the creative process and meaning of the music. Unfortunately, The Consequence, thanks to the puppeteers of the industry, and the fact that a rapper already had a similar name, have lost their originality and sold their souls to the dance rock god.