No Doubt, ‘Push and Shove’ – Song Review

Is it just us, or does a part of No Doubt seem to make more sense now than when the band first broke through to the mainstream, back in the era when Bill Clinton ruled the White House and the Unabomber still roamed free? Sure, No Doubt will forever be associated with the mid-'90s first and foremost, but there's something about the band's high-profile 2012 comeback after more than a decade away that just sticks out as surprisingly welcome. Could it possibly be the music?

'Settle Down,' the first single off No Doubt's 'Push and Shove' (out Sept. 25), actually managed to set the bar high, and now comes its follow-up, the album's title track. "It's our 'Bohemian Rhapsody," bassist Tony Kanal says of the tune, a four-minute-plus schizophrenic groove that manages to sample a wide variety of genres. We're not sure if it's ready for comparisons to Queen, but we see what Kanal's getting at.

Philadelphia-based DJ and producer Diplo helmed the sessions for 'Push and Shove,' and that makes total sense -- Diplo's own musical aesthetic is based on smashing together disparate genres for maximum contrasting impact. That's exactly what he tries here, but he's actually so good at it that the jagged pieces somehow seem to fit together as an organic whole. No, it's not the ready-made anthem No Doubt turned in with 'Settle Down,' but here, Diplo manages to take a song with several contrasting parts and make it sound pretty damn smooth.

Listen to No Doubt's 'Push and Shove'