Audio Push - Last Lights Left Album Review

Story posted September 14, 2017 in Arts & Entertainment by KJ Meade.

It’s hard to believe that a group that’s been around for nearly a decade just released their second album, but such is the case with California rap group Audio Push and their new project Last Lights Left. The duo featuring Oktane and Price jumped on the scene when the country was enamored by the 2009 dance craze of “jerking” with their hit “Teach Me How to Jerk”. The single has over 22 million views on YouTube, but the group hasn’t seen numbers like that since. Just like the exciting dance moves, the group faded out of prominent attention.

It wasn’t as if they just fizzled out completely, as they continued to make music in the form of several mixtapes they dropped throughout the years. Consistency remained key with the group and it began to pay off last year. In September of 2016, the group dropped their debut album 90951 and grabbed features from Musiq Soulchild and BJ The Chicago Kid. The LP left their fans relieved for new music and excited for what was to come.

Audio Push continued that consistent habit of pushing out music when they dropped their second studio album Last Lights Left earlier this month. Unfortunately for the group, this album again didn’t have a major hit like in their past. But this was a project where Oktane and Price just wanted to dive in and make music that they would appreciate. The album has zero features and Price produced the album himself with not a lot of help and the instrumentals aren’t too bad, but pretty average. Last Lights Left just lacks any excitement and none of the tracks really present anything memorable.

They released a small documentary on the process of developing the album and highlights the pathways of their career leading up to Last Lights Left. “God Speed,” “Window Seat” and “Planet Earth Is Live” were the three singles released before the album. Listeners should be most excited for “Planet Earth Is Live” in which the group drew inspiration from the late activist and comedian Dick Gregory. The single provides a real smooth jazz like instrumental, but still gives that strong bass for lyrics to just flow over.

Fans shouldn’t really be disappointed in this Audio Push album as it appears they’re showing signs - but really are not there yet - of being a strong hip hop group. Although they have been making music for a long time and possess the skill and talent to have a hit, it’s going to take some patience. It also should be taken into account that when the group dropped “Teach Me How to Jerk, ” it caught on with a young audience which has since aged and fell out of touch with Audio Push. They have no problem with making music hastily, but it seems they’re going to have to decide if they’re going to just make music for themselves and the fans they have or do they want to jump back and add value back to their name with another hit single that doesn’t have to coincide with a dance craze.

All in all, Last Lights Left is just an average album that could’ve done a little better if the release was at a later date or if Audio Push would’ve thrown some more features on to make it more exciting.

Rating: 5/10

 

Kj Meade is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email kalmeade@gmail.com