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Short Reviews: Gorillaz, Nada Surf, System of a Down, The New Pornographers
By: Chris Murino - ModernRock.com
December 11th 2005 3:09pm
GORILLAZ
So who is this animated band playing danceable Brit-pop? What exactly is going on here? How can a band be animated? Huh?
These are all common questions for those uninitiated with Gorillaz. The band was formed under the pretenses of being the first virtual reality hip-hop group. The vocalist of Blur, Damon Albarn, is the mastermind of the group.
For the first Gorillaz album, Albarn enlisted the help of Dan “The Automator” Nakamura, Miho Hatori and Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads-fame.
Albarn also employed the help of Jamie Hewlett to do the visuals and animation for this virtual-reality group.
The result was a smashing success. The album, ignited by the hugely popular “Clint Eastwood,” reached platinum status, selling 6 million records in the U.S. and was a huge success all over the world. Their newest album, Demon Days, was released in May and picks up where their self-titled album left off. Albarn and an array of friends (Danger Mouse replaces main musical collaborator of the first album, Nakamura) create another album for the masses with indie-rock appeal.
The new album is decidedly less upbeat than their debut, however. Demon Days isn’t the instant party hit that Gorillaz’s debut was,” writes Michael Hubbard of musicomh.com “Rather, it mingles a decidedly human sadness with a palpable enthusiasm for making new music that’s every bit the unexpected surprise it sounds.”
“The darkness is the marked difference this second time around,” agrees Natalie B. David of Lost at Sea Magazine.
This did not seem to affect album sales for Demon Days, however, as it sold 107,000 copies in its first week, debuting at number 6 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart.
NADA SURF
Marcy Playground. Chumbawumba. New Radicals. Nada Surf. All one-hit wonders, never to be heard on mainstream radio again.
Nada Surf initially gained fame with their Weezer-esque hit, “Popular,” in 1996. They then fell off the face of the earth, only to be heard from on the occasional 90s compilation album. Fan Aurelien Guyomard, 24, of Paris, said the constant airplay of “Popular” stopped him from pursuing the band’s music at first. “That prevented me from listening to them because it was too much,” Guyomard said.
But, wait, what’s this? Nada Surf has surprised everyone with their last two albums, 2002’s Let Go, and 2005’s The Weight is a Gift, delivering indie-pop goodness and getting some radio and video airplay with singles “Inside of Love” and “Always Love.” It’s not just a success in the U.S. either. “Always Love” airplayed 4 times a day on French mainstream radio stations which had given up rock music 7 years ago,” Guyomard said.
“Nada Surf…underwent a radical transformation into an exceptional indie-pop act on 2002’s Let Go giving the band new creative license that other post-alternative acts…never found,” writes Jonathan Keefe of Slant Magazine. What was so different about their last two releases? Why this instant credibility for a band that was just a few years ago relegated to one-hit wonder status?
Noel Murray of The Onion (AV Club) believes it’s because they “fused post-Radiohead sweep with Death Cab for Cutie-style emo, complete with airy melodies, heavy rhythms and sparkling guitar.” “Do It Again” off of The Weight is a Gift, is a gem of a song, according to many critics and fans. “The prize is ‘Do It Again,’ with overdubbed Beach Boys harmonies enfolding the crackle of the guitars in a plea for tenderness Nada Surf-style,” writes Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone.
If Nada Surf keeps churning out music as good as they have been these past two albums, no one will see the bands Marcy Playground and Nada Surf in the same article again.
THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
A certain indie rock supergroup from Vancouver is steadily gaining popularity.
The New Pornographers, featuring Carl Newman of Zumpano, country singer Neko Case, Dan Bejar of The Destroyers and four others, are beginning to reap some commercial rewards after years of being critical darlings.
Their new album, Twin Cinema debuted at #44 on the Billboard albums chart and they have seen increasingly more rabid fans at their concerts. Critics have been lauding The New Pornographers for their power pop, radio-friendly appeal for years, since their debut in 2000, Mass Romantic, and 2003’s Electric Version.
“If Clear Channel ignores the pop gems filling Mass Romantic and Electric Version, they’re never going to get it, so the band might as well indulge their weirder tendencies,” writes Lawrence Station of ShakingThrough.net.
So, that’s what they did. However, making the album a bit weirder certainly did not diminish their ability to write great pop hooks. “We tried to make it stranger,” Carl Newman told mtv.com. “We thought if we put weird time signatures it would make it less summery. But I guess some people just got the summer in their heart.”
“The Bleeding Heart Show” off their latest disc is viewed by many fans and critics as one of their best songs ever. It “creeps in as a leisurely ballad with members trading vocals then codas with al seven Pornographers oohing in unison,” says Kevin Dolak of Prefix Magazine.
If you’d like to hear a great, little-known rock band, check out The New Pornographers. They won’t be little-known for long.
SYSTEM OF A DOWN
System of a Down’s new album, Hypnotize topped the Billboard 200 Chart for the second time this year. It sold more than 320,000 copies in the United States its first week, ending November 30, according to Nielsen Soundscan.
It did not sell as many in its first week, however, as its companion album, Mesmerize, which was released in May. Mesmerize sold 453,000 copies, 41% more than Hypnotize.
The two albums, recorded in one studio session and meant to be heard together, have been receiving rave reviews from rock critics. “The band’s voice remains ferocious and unique,” writes Cory D. Byrom of Pitchfork. “US hard rock may be rubbish,” writes Niall O’Keeffe of Dot Music. “But Armenian-American concept-metal isn’t. You need this in your life.”
One reason the band is so popular is that they can change styles mid-song.
They switch “from explosive heavy metal to ornate prog rock to Balkan folk,” writes Dorian Lynskey of The Guardian.
The songs on the last two albums have mostly been written by guitarist Daron Malakian, whereas their earlier material was mostly written by Serj Tankian. Daron is also singing more on these recent albums.
This has disappointed some hardcore System of a Down fans. “They need less Daron, more Serj singing, more riffs and less chords,” said Nick Jackrack, 18, of New York. Hypnotize is nothing great, as a matter of face I’m very disappointed with Daron steering the band,” Jackrack said.
Maybe it was this dissatisfaction that led to the decline in album sales from Mesmerize to Hypnotize. They’re still selling more albums than most, so why change a successful operation?
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