Red Hot Chili Peppers--I'm With You

The departure in 2009 of John Frusciante, whose maximalist guitarwork was inextricable from the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ sound, left the band at a crossroads. I’m With You demonstrates a lack of creative vigor that isn’t quite compensated for by the other members’ technical abilities.

New guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who has worked with Gnarls Barkley and PJ Harvey, misses the opportunity to contribute a distinct personality to the music. For instance, tracks like “Did I Let You Know,” which would have benefitted from Frusciante’s technical, soaring guitar heroics are instead undistinguished. Other cuts lack Frusciante and Michael “Flea” Balzary’s guitar-bass interplay that characterized the dynamism of classics like “Can’t Stop.”

The overarching sound of the album evokes the Chili Peppers’ early work. Lead single, “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie,” harkens back to the funk rock of 1989 album Mother’s Milk: the prominent use of cowbell welds with Flea’s trademark bass melodies and aggressive slap bass.

I’m With You highlight, “Brendan’s Death Song,” is a tribute to Brendan Mullen, a nightclub owner and longtime friend of the Chili Peppers who helped them gain standing in the L.A. punk scene. The song starts off as an acoustic lament, but gradually becomes more rousing and increases intensity. Lead singer Anthony Kiedis mourns the loss of his friend and relates to his own mortality: “Like I said/ You know I’m almost dead/ You know I’m almost gone.”

All in all, I’m With You constitutes a competent follow-up to Stadium Arcadium that will cater to the tastes of devoted fans, but have little impact on the current musical landscape. And Kiedis’s rap-rock vocals, though marking a return to the funk roots, will elicit little more than fond nostalgia.