Le Tigre: This Island (2 stars)

By Kelly Johnson

Politics and music.

When trying to juggle two hot coals, more often than not, you’ll get burned.

Kathleen Hanna, however, has shown over the past decade that she is more than capable of making smart social commentary while carving a name for herself as a powerful female lead singer.

With “This Island,” her punky electro-band Le Tigre makes the move to Universal Records after giving us two enjoyable albums full of hooks and beats.

Most of the memorable hooks here are absent, but the beats are always right on. With the opener “On the Verge,” Hanna proves right away that she still has one of the most engaging and forceful voices in rock ’n’ roll.

However, there is something lacking on the album. Nothing stands out and by the time you get to the lead single “New Kicks,” you realize seven tracks have floated by. “Kicks” is a complete head-scratcher, with the always-wonderful chants of “Peace up/War down” interspersed between clips of political speeches that will cause much eye-rolling.

Hopefully, Le Tigre can soothe this burn on future releases.