Sean Tillman, aka Har Mar Superstar, released his third disc, "The Handler," and while the first single off the album completely rocks, the rest of the CD is flat.
Tillman, who attempts to copy vocal styles similar to Stevie Wonder, Prince and Michael Jackson, falls about 30-feet short on his latest effort simply because his joke to be a balding, over-weight sexter - who raps - went sour about two discs ago.
But even though Har Mar Superstar struggles to keep his material fresh and funny, the leading single, "Cut Me Up," is the fire.
It starts out with a deep dance beat and vocals from Karen O matched by a whispering Har Mar Superstar. The song sounds like Daft Punk, and that's where problems surface because the keyboard effects on "Cut Me Up" appear to be exactly like something off of Punk's "Homework."
The lyrics are a bit more clever on "Cut Me Up" than any of the other tracks on "The Handler," but the unnecessary swearing and references to cutting one's skin seem to be pretty typical these days, and are reminiscent of The Used's morbid final track on their latest release.
Har Mar declares, "Cut me up, break me off baby/Don't let go till I can't breathe/I may run, but I still want it/Follow me into my dreams/Cut me up babe/I want to f--k you baby/... Pleasure pain/Burnin' in my bed/Your pins hit my skin/Until it bled."
The end of the song closes with a moan-filled orgasm and, the listener's thought: Har Mar only wishes he were having sex with Karen O.
And the album's similarity to moldy cheese simply gets extremely old after a while because listening to Har Mar tell the audience to chant that he's sexy is like asking a mouse to say he's a cheetah.
On another song, "DUI," which stands for "dialing under the influence," Har Mar croons, "Lookin' out in the crowd I see a lot of hotties/Tell me which of you will be my mommy?/Don't be shy, come over put it on me/Spark it up and pass it all around me."
Boooo Har Mar. No hot girl wants to be your mommy if you're going to ask in that fashion, and besides, your tighty-whitey-wearing butt isn't going to get anywhere wearing, well, tighty-whities.
There are a few good numbers on "The Handler," including the dance floor stomping, "Transit," and Tina Turner background music-esque, "Body Request," but other than those tracks, "The Handler," needs to be groped and thrown to the side.
Suggested listening: While on a handful of drugs.
If you liked this, you might also like: Dance techno pop groups that deserve the final word such as, Daft Punk, Chemical Brothers, Bonfire Madigan, Deerhoof or Cadallaca.
