New Gorillaz album is out this week. I’m not sure whether a new release from the “band”—“Plastic Beach”—is going to be cause for major fanfare or mass disinterest. I guess this is this generation’s version of the Muppet Show, and not a bad version at that. I’m just a bit underwhelmed by this album after the last one—“Demon Days,” which came out five years ago and was one of the better albums of this decade in my opinion. That was a high point—it was as if the project had somehow been deputized to express the collective malaise about the hell of the second Bush term and continuing quagmire in Iraq (likely because they could get away with that, not being real people and all).
Musically, it’s pretty good—more of the same from the first two albums, closer in tone to the disjointed dub of the first album, fit in to the overall format of the second one. I’m just not exactly sure what they’re saying here. It feels corporatized and watered down, like something that came in a Happy Meal. The guest stars are bizarre—Snoop Dogg opens the album. I mean, really? And Lou Reed? Those aren’t exactly rare commodities. Elsewhere we get contributions from members of the Super Furry Animals, the Clash, De La Soul, Bobby Womack, Mos Def, even Mark E. Smith. Somehow it just doesn’t add up, though.
It’s all of the cute, none of the bite. “Demon Days” actually had some fairly salient things to say. This album seems largely defanged. What happened?
Don’t get me wrong, though, there are some great jams on the album: for instance see the “Stylo” video, with… Bruce Willis?!? here. And it’s great to see the early 90s-acid-house-comic style Jamie Hewlett made popular with “Tank Girl” soldier on. But… come on, Damon, did you just turn this project over to the Virgin Records interns?
