After an interminable recording hiatus since 2006’s beastly double album ‘Stadium Arcadium’, the world’s favourite ragtag crew of L.A. slackers Red Hot Chili Peppers return with new single ‘The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie’.
Following that record should be no mean feat. The Rick Rubin-produced ‘…Arcadium’ bagged five Grammys, including Best Rock Album, and debuted at number one on both sides of the Atlantic.
On this single’s indication however, the band have lost nothing of their swagger despite the recent departure of longtime guitarist John Frusciante. Frusciante, whose instrumental guitar playing was the beating heart at the centre of two of the Chili’s most critically lauded albums – 1991’s ‘Blood Sugar Sex Magik’ and 1999’s ‘Californication’, left for the second time recently, though new stringsmith Josh Klinghoffer makes an impression on this funky new track.
‘The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie’ has a distinctively 80s feel – ‘Hey now, we’ve got to make it rain somehow’ – and bears much of the hallmarks of classic Chilis; a summery vibe, laid-back Keidis crooning and insistently tremoloing guitar. Klinghoffer has his own bag of tricks however, as evidenced in the middle portion of the song, with some heavy, mechanical, motorbike engine effects exhibited.
The video, shot on a rooftop overlooking Venice Beach and featuring Keidis’ typical penchant for stripping off his shirt, a la Iggy Pop before a gathering and raucous crowd under the sun, stresses the group’s fun loving and incorrigible sensibilities.
Weirdly this is a song that could feasibly be labelled a grower even if the listener enjoys it on the first listen; it has that kind of layered, shimmering quality. ‘Tick-tock, I want to rock you like the eighties/ Cock blocking isn’t allowed’ Keidis hollers during an Arcadium-esque early verse, as Flea’s bass thumps on.
A love note to California, of sorts, this song is the perfect precursor to new album ‘I’m With You’, out August 30th.
(Ronnie McCluskey)
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