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As I lament the coming of the winter season, I figured it was time to review the newest release from the quintessential summertime band The Red Hot Chili Peppers. After a six-year hiatus, the band is once again back on the alternative rock scene and has released two full-length albums this year alone. Return of the Dream Canteen was released this October and is the thirteenth album from the California band that has seen dozens of lineup changes over the years. Dream Canteen, like Unlimited Love before it, features John Frusciante on guitar after he returned to the band in 2019. The album is seventeen tracks long and is published by Warner Records.

The drummer. New ⁦@ChiliPeppers⁩ out now pic.twitter.com/aGknCD904r

— Chad Smith (@RHCPchad) October 15, 2022

Now I’m not the biggest Chili Peppers fan, but I enjoy the carefree sound which blends elements of rock and funk together in order to create snappy grooves. The band thrives off transporting listeners to the beaches of California through sonic expression.

Dream Canteen certainly continues this theme, delivering the typical Chili Peppers sound, but nothing very revolutionary. It’s nice to see the band back together, but Anthony Kiedis’ vocals still leave much to be desired in the writing department. Many songs often feel as though he is simply improvising lyrics off the top of his head and he often spouts lines that make little to no sense.

“Tippa my Tongue” the opening track, is a prime example of this. A nonsensical, irritating chanting accompanies every section of this song as though trying to hide ridiculous lyrics such as, “I’m at the precipice, come and make a mess of this, it’s the apocalypse, I try to get a sock of this.” I understand this song heavily references LSD and thus the nonsensical lyrics augment the feelings of hallucinogens. However, it is a theme that has already been explored so much by the band that at this point it feels tiresome.

On a more positive note, the follow-up track “Peace and Love” is much better. There is some great drumming and bass work from Chad Smith and Flea respectively, followed by a melodic and catchy chorus. The whole track captures that feel-good energy that the Chili Peppers always do well.

Following that is “Reach Out” which, though filled with more quality performances, returns to the realm of the absurd in the lyrical department. If I had to guess, I’d say the song is attempting to deliver an extremely disjointed commentary on drug addiction that is easily lost amidst the ramblings of Kiedis. It sounds good but it lacks substance.

The next track “Eddie” is one of my personal favorites and not because it shares my name. There is some fantastic guitar work from Frusciante and some touching lyrics that pay homage to one of the greatest guitarists of our time, Eddie Van Halen. The writing here is some of Kiedis’ best, showing he certainly has the ability to weave storytelling into his songs. I’d like to see more tracks of this style from The Chili Peppers in the future

The middle section of the album begins with the ballad “Bella” and the mostly forgettable “Roulette.” Neither of these songs really worked for me, and neither did the following track “My Cigarette” though I did enjoy the inclusion of saxophone in the closing section.

Fortunately, “Shoot me a Smile” brings back the fun with another upbeat sing-along chorus. Here the relatively goofy lyrics work well as the entire song has a very lighthearted tone and friendly atmosphere. Though it does fulfill a similar role to “Peace and Love” on the album, I still enjoyed listening throughout.

The final stretch of Dream Canteen begins with again another cuttable track in “Handful” but then transitions into something truly special with “The Drummer.” This song aptly features a great performance from Smith and some more killer basslines from Flea. “Bag of Grins” then lets the band really cut loose and Frusciante takes center stage with some powerful instrumentals.

“La la la la la la la la” was a track that I liked at first, as it sounds different from everything else on the album. It’s a crooning love song, which normally doesn’t interest me but I found Kiedis’ mellow delivery quite relaxing. It almost made me forget some of the truly, corny lines such as “Tell me how it feels for you, to order Happy Meals for two.”

It’s here where the album starts to overstay its welcome. Seventeen songs is certainly a lot and I easily passed over both “Copperbelly” and “Carry me Home” without feeling much of anything. The closing track “In the Snow” certainly shakes things up but is all over the place creatively. There is a stock drum beat, rather than live drums, and a spoken word section that breaks up the almost mechanical tempo. It doesn’t really feel like a Chili Peppers song and feels out of place amongst the rest of the album.

Ultimately, Return to the Dream Canteen delivers a mostly solid experience that I ended up enjoying much more than the previous release Unlimited Love. It still has some issues though, and the project feels somewhat bloated and bland at times. The absurd writing can also often be off-putting when you actually pay attention to it but on the whole, I would still recommend this to fans of the band.

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Return to the Dream Canteen

14.99

5.7

Score

5.7/10

Pros

• Good performances from the band
• Eddie
• Feel good tone

Cons

• Lyrical quality is spotty
• Bloated and bland at times