New U2 Single Lacks Real Kick

"Get On Your Boots"

Island/Universal

Jared Morano (CHARTattack)

01/19/2009 4:25pm

The new single from the biggest band in the world plows through a military snare intro to a crunchy bass groove. This is the playful electro-U2 that's hidden in exile since 1997's disastrous Pop.

Like much of that album, "Get On Your Boots" immediately sounds too flashy. Every second is filled with vocal overdubs or guitar squeals. After the first listen, I still had no idea what the song was about and — A&R reps, start panicking — I couldn't recall any real hook. With cliche lines like, "You don't know how beautiful you are" and "Let me in the sound," it just didn't seem to have any personality.

Then I started poking around on the 'net and discovered that the video will have girls marching (apparently with boots) and that the original title for the song was "Sexy Boots." That's when it clicked. "Get On Your Boots" is a taunt. It undercuts violence by reducing it to mere fashion.

Bono rips through the nearly monotone verses, attacking those who bear arms with rhymes like "women are the future of the big revelations/I don't want to talk about wars between nations."

"Satan loves a bomb scare, but it won't scare you," he accuses whoever launched "rockets at the funfair," later slamming, "You don't get it, do you?"

There are no mesmerizing guitar solos and the rhythm is as butt-simple as the rest of the U2 catalogue. If there's a spotlight, it's shining on the producers, who cut and paste rhythm tracks like they're making a photo collage.

"Get On Your Boots" isn't the most captivating single U2 has ever released. It seems to hint more about the upcoming album than it does represent it, which is probably its intent, considering the current deterioration of the old music business model and the importance it has placed on lead singles.

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