BMG
Indie Rock, 2018

Maybe it’s true love, or maybe they all need money to pay the bills, but Culture Club are finally back for Life. Of course, now it’s Boy George and Culture Club, although I confess I don’t know why this is the case. Maybe it’s a way to stop everyone from scrapping over who gets top billing, I guess.

At any rate, the songs here are familiar to fans of Culture Club: a fusion of reggae, rock, and soul – only, this time things feel a little more mellow and sedate. Perhaps this is to be expected, as years have passed, and nowadays those folks may not want to risk a broken hip from getting too excited on stage. Still, there is calming kind of assurance in songs such as Oil & Water and Runaway Train, as Boy George’s vocals are still as strong and charismatic as ever. While there is no mistaking this for Culture Club in those early days, the songs here are still recognizable as theirs, only this time the guys are more in the playing more laid-back tunes as folks drink away their blues mode.

Occasionally, things perk up, such as in the rare energetic romps such as Different Man and the U2-esque More Than Silence, but for the most part, it’s mellow city. Even a song with a title like Resting Bitch Face isn’t bringing on the camp – please, darling, they can’t be undignified at their age – as much as it serves as a backing track in those swanky, posh clubs where people snort coke while barely paying attention to the music or their surroundings.

What I’m trying to say is that Life is okay. It’s a Culture Club album, only more mellow and less energetic on the whole. Is this a bad thing? In this case, no really. At the same time, it’s also music for me to play while I’m doing the housework and such. Nothing here really stands out, so it’s okay for me to pay less than my full attention to it. I guess a part of me will always think of Karma Chameleon and sigh wistfully.