We’re with Them (the Red Hot Chili Peppers)

We’re old enough that we remember seeing the Red Hot Chili Peppers back in the days when they performed in nothing more than strategically placed socks. In a recent NPR interview, singer Anthony Kiedis downplayed the socks stunt, maintaining that the band only sported them a handful of times, but we witnessed the stunt, but whatever the case, that was some 25 years ago and the Peppers have certainly matured. They continue on as an alt-rock holdover that has somehow endured, a fact that is especially astonishing when you consider how many of their contemporaries (acts like Thelonious Monster and Fishbone) have been long forgotten.

Listening to the Peppers’ new disc, I’m With You, it’s apparent there’s still some punk in their funk, as the band demonstrates in the opening track, “Monarchy of Roses,” which features a great guitar riff courtesy of new axe slinger Josh Klinghoffer. While the album sputters a bit with “Brendan’s Death Song,” an ode to a deceased booking agent who gave the band one of its first gigs, and the ballads “Annie Wants a Baby” and “Police Station,” it gets back on track with “Look Around,” a tune that has a cool mid-song ’70s breakdown. And the equally funky tune, “The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie,” works despite its nonsense rhymes.

The band comes on strong with “Did I Let You Know,” a song with a distinctive African rhythm that sounds like a hip-hop rendition of something off Paul Simon’s Graceland album. And “Goodbye Hooray” has an old school punk energy to it. I’m With You might not be an album that you’ll listen to some 20 years from now. But it shows the Chili Peppers, who mark their return after a five-year absence, have some spunk left in their trunk. New guitarist Josh Klinghoffer is a worthy addition to the group and Kiedis keeps it in his sweet spot (essentially a rapping/singing hybrid), without stretching his vocal range beyond his capabilities.