Japandroids – Post Nothing

Janapdroids

Art and music is nearly always worth far more than the sum of its parts. I mean, all Van Gogh ever did was slap some oil paints with a horsehair brush onto cheap canvas. And all Shakespeare did was to dip a feather plucked from some poor bird’s backside into a pot of ink and scrawl on some cheap parchment.

But I’m getting carried away. Comparing Japandroids to Shakespeare or Van Gogh is a signifcant measure of hyperbole too far. But the fact remains that the debutante drums and guitar duo have definitely put together, in the coyly titled Post Nothing, an LP that is sounds far more vital than its relevant parts. For those parts, read equal measures of slamdance disco a la Death From Above 1979, scuzzed up grunge punk and a certain amount of titanic stadium rock.

The band began, so the story goes, when Brian King and David Prowse decided to stop looking for a vocalist and just do it themselves. Since then, the pair have found themselves pigeonholed with such luminaries as No Age, Women and other such darlings of the American ‘lo-fi’ scene. That it’s an awkward tag for a band who state they want to be “anything but lo-fi” is borne out by the first listen: ‘The Boys Are Leaving Town’ might have the treble heavy production and sheen of fuzz glistening over its throbbing guitar pulse and crashing drumbeats, but tinny lo-fi it must definitely isn’t. As plaintive howls about trying to find their way back home echo over crazed drumfills and an arpeggiated but suitably feedback laden solo, the feeling is of a band trying to sound as massive as they can. Thin Lizzy would be proud.

The only shame is that ‘The Boys Are Leaving Town’ sets the bar so high, that everything else pales slightly in comparison. But that would be unfair on some very strong material: ‘Young Hearts Spark Fire’ is a slab of infectiously catchy scuzzpunk along the lines of Husker Du. Not only does it out No Age No Age, but the strangled plea “I don’t wanna worry about dying/I just wanna worry about sunshine girls” out anthems those Springsteen humpers The Hold Steady. It’s the single best vocal line since Times New Viking bleating about needing money for drugs. Elsewhere, ‘Heart Sweats’ is a looser DFA1979, stomping and pouting before launching into a scream along chorus. Lyrically, they’re definitely singing from the same sheet as the much missed Canadians: “I’m as cold as ice girl, I should know, I’ve been to the north pole” is a lip licking phrase, even if the yelped  X-O-X-X-O-Xs sound oddly out of place.

The only problem with the album is a lack of consistency – not in terms of quality, but in terms of style. Japandroids sound oddly enough like a band stuck between several rocks and various hard places: they don’t know if they want to sound like a bunch of scuzzy kit humping DIY punks, or something altogether bigger. The crunching riff of ‘Crazy/Forever’ might sound like Soundgarden until the vocals kick in, but it’s followed the altogether more soaring ‘Sovereignty’ which, with it’s achingly personal lyrics and hollered shouts heads back into DIYdom. Similarly, final track ‘I Quit Girls’ is a slower, chiming number, which brings to mind the mid-nineties dischord scene. It’s an original mix, as the album title suggests, but at times it’s a little bewildering and the listener does start to wonder where on earth the duo are going with this.

For now though, that’s by the by. With Post Nothing, Japandroids have created an album which can’t fail to be appealing to most listeners. It’s a heartfelt, ear wrenchingly catchy, and rock solid LP with enough hooks and kicks for several albums worth. Definitely worth more than just a pair of worn drumsticks and a beat up guitar.

No related posts.