Album excerpts:

"When You Hear the Bassline"

"Can't Stop Now"

"Jump Up"

Click here to download it from Amazon.

Major Lazer : Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do
released on Downtown Records
reviewed by Gaspar Oliveira for GBH.tv

To plenty of people, Diplo and Switch can do no wrong. It's not hard to see why: the two producers-slash-DJs have built up a pair of bulletproof résumés over the years, from creating fidget house (Switch) and breaking the story of baile funk (Diplo) to helping M.I.A. become a mainstream star (both). Their respective labels, Mad Decent and Dubsided, are two of the most credible and reliable indie dance imprints on the planet.

But all credibility aside, when Diplo and Switch announced that they'd partnered up to form Major Lazer, it had to give even their most hardcore fans pause. At the outset, Diplo and Switch envisioned a double album, one disc full of homages to dancehall's traditions and another filled with dance floor remixes. And for a pair of artists known for their mixing instincts first, second, and third, that first disc seemed like a potential disaster.

The duo eventually scaled their ambitions back, and their debut as Major Lazer, Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do, fits on a single disc. On it, they're more than averted disaster: they've created an album that actually lives up to expectations. Guns Don't Kill People... is bright, banging, and exhilaratingly busy; whinnying horses, crying, Autotuned (!!) babies, klaves that ping like sonar emissions, maniacal laughter, impossibly thick, swollen bass, landing airplanes, and soaring synth melodies are all pushed together, crowded but happy. Both Switch and and Diplo are highly regarded for their production chops, and they both sound in top form, here. Beyond the hooks and the beats, Guns Don't Kill People just sounds great, bright and full of personality.

Most impressive, though is how well that personality gets along with the album's many guests. Guns Don't Kill People... features contributions from producers like Crookers and Afrojack ("Jump Up") and a murderer's row of Jamaican toasters and singers, and each gets along just fine with his beat. Some, like Turbulence and Prince Zimboo, actually sound invigorated; the former just murders "Anything Goes", and the oddball Prince makes the most of the skit-length "Baby". Elsewhere, Einstein actually outnasties Amanda Blank on "What U Like".

Diplo and Switch could've treated the whole Major Lazer thing as a once-in-a-lifetime piss-take. But the duo apparently has other plans, with hopes to make an impact on Jamaican shores and long-term aspirations to turn Major Lazer into a big-time name, with more singles and EPs in the offing. If Guns Don't Kill People... is their sloppy, crazy, mistake-filled debut, then I can't wait to hear what the Major comes up with next.

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