WORLD PARTY”Bang” Chrysalis* * * 1/2World Party’s...

WORLD PARTY

“Bang”

Chrysalis

* * * 1/2

World Party’s third album contains some of the most cynical pop dialogues with the Big Guy since Randy Newman’s “God’s Song” in the ‘70s. In one comically operatic interlude, God tells man to take care of the planet and man responds, “(Expletive) you.” Elsewhere, man ventures into space and comes face to face with the Deity, who dejectedly says, “I’m worried about my creation.”

If Karl Wallinger continues to see the world as doomed, he also still expresses hope. With literary elan leaning toward C. S. Lewis, he turns his attention to the good things he believes exist before and will remain after the big titular bang, i.e. love--physical, emotional and spiritual.

Musically too, this is a love album, as Wallinger gives a more-distinctive-than-ever stamp to a pop fabric woven from threads of Lennon, Dylan and the Stones, with a strong leaning to their soul roots this time. From soaring pop to jungle-frenzy rock to sensuous funk-soul, Wallinger is consistently engaging and thought-provoking--a combination that stimulates hope itself.