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Red Hot Chili Peppers Drop Another New Song Which, Yet Again, Doesn't Suck?

"The Getaway" is the second track from the upcoming album of the same name and, well, it's pretty good.

We pretty much figured that “Dark Necessities,” the first track to be released from new Red Hot Chili Peppers record The Getaway, was an anomaly. It was an oddly brooding track, incorporating everything that made the band worth paying attention to in their heyday but adding fresh and even mature new elements. Flea’s bass served a purpose beyond sheer musicianship, Kleidis’ cocky staccato fit in perfectly and a ringing piano held the whole thing together. It sounded like a band finally finding itself after years of grasping at the past. It was… good.

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On first listen, “The Getaway” is perhaps more remarkable still, for entirely different reasons. The title track from the band’s 11th studio LP, due out on June 17, it lacks the explicitly experimental sounds of “Dark Necessities.” There’s no piano, no serious leaps into new territory. But the fact that they’ve managed to wring something fresh from their well-worn aesthetic is impressive. It’s metronomic with airy embellishments; Josh Klinghoffer’s guitar chugs along quietly but spreads itself out with big, chorus-heavy flourishes; Flea’s bass dances slowly in the background; Kleidis says “Ca-li-fown-ya.” It shouldn’t work any better than half the mediocre work on 2011’s mediocre I’m With You.

But it does. It’s actually worth listening to more than once. And if this is the throwback element of their new record, the weirder “Dark Necessities” stuff should be fascinating. The album was produced by Danger Mouse and mixed by Radiohead production mastermind Nigel Godrich; they’ve given themselves every opportunity for one last play at relevance and, so far, it seems as though they’ve grabbed it.

Check out the track below and—seriously, I didn’t expect to type this a couple weeks back—keep an eye out for The Getaway when it comes out on June 17th.

Alex Robert Ross had all but given up on his childhood until 15 minutes ago. Follow him on Twitter.