And do we really want a ‘mature’ No Doubt record, anyway? The band sounds more at home on the title track, a ska/dub fusion where Stefani rhymes ‘La-la-la-la vida loca/We speeding it up like soca.’ That’s the No Doubt we love: hopped-up ambassadors from a fairy-tale SoCal where la vida is, eternally, loca.” Rolling Stone’s Jody Rosen comments, “The songs are catchy, but Gwen Stefani doesn’t have the voice, or the gravitas, for grandiose tunes. STORY: Gwen Stefani on Recording With Kids: ‘It Was Just Chaos’ It’s that rare breed of record that carries the musicians’ touch wherever on the timeline.” The resulting 11-track album doesn’t sound a day over 1995’s Tragic Kingdom, but that doesn’t make it dated. Push and Shove returns to the group’s type of ska mixed with dancehall, electro pop and a pinch of magic, expertly dished out by producer Spike Stent. Lewis responds: “In that regard, No Doubt is virtually unique,” and adds, “The guest talent helps bolster the album’s broad stylistic range - from driving electronic dance music (‘Looking Hot’) and dreamy synth-pop (‘One More Summer’) to romantically yearning dancehall reggae (‘Sparkle’) and melancholy dance pop (‘Undercover’) echoing No Doubt’s earliest efforts.”Ĭristina Jaleru of Huffington Postsays, “From the first listen one can tell it was worth the wait. Randy Lewis from Los Angeles Times poses the question: “Is it possible, though, for a band that’s been around this long to exert a significant influence in a world now dominated by the frothy youth pop of Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and American Idol - none of which existed when No Doubt got started?”

Push and shove by cl stone