popwreckoning

Gorillaz is a virtual band of cartoon apes. They’ve recorded hit songs and sold out animated concerts. If that doesn’t prove that they can pretty much do whatever they want, having Snoop Dogg welcome listeners on the opening track of their new album, Plastic Beach, does.

And then the National Orchestra for Arabic Music shows up on the next song, “White Flag,” and you stop asking these can they/can’t they questions.

Created in 1998 by Damon Albarn (that guy from Blur) and comic book-creator Jamie Hewlett as a kind of commentary on that year’s excess of pre-fab boy bands, Gorillaz took the idea of bands as caricatures and, ironically, created a group that has outlasted and outsold many of their human targets. Like their previous album, Demon Days, Plastic Beach blends dance-pop and hip-hop. This time around, that marriage is emphasized by the number and variety of contributors: Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Little Dragon, Lou Reed, Mick Jones, Bobby Womack… and for kicks, a cameo from Bruce Willis in the video for the beat-driven first single “Stylo.”

“Superfast Jellyfish” gets silly with retro-rap from Gruff Ryhs and De La Soul and a chorus that sounds and reads like a commercial jingle for children’s sugary cereal. “Empire Ants” opens as a dreamy synth lullaby, transforming halfway through into hypnotic electric loops. “Glitter Freeze” jumps again into spastic rave synths broken up by featured artist Mark E. Smith’s prophetic-sounding spoken word and cackling.

Gorillaz – maybe because, in a sense, they don’t exist in the first place – always has a lot of room to play around with styles and guest artists. It’s hard to pigeon-hole them into a genre. Plastic Beach is sometimes a reinvention, sometimes more of the same. Compared to Demon Days, this album is heavier on rap but also heavier on electric dance anthems. It’s jam-packed (16 songs, well over an hour long) with such a mixture of music that it’s impossible to define by one or two tracks. We get “Sweepstakes,” pure rap from guest artist Mos Def set against a frustratingly distracting dance beat backdrop – the only song for me which just didn’t work. And then there’s “To Binge,” a sparkly love song that sounds (appropriately) like an afternoon at the beach.

Plastic Beach could be more cohesive. It could be shorter. But as usual, Gorillaz pushes the limit and gets away with it.

Track Listing:

1. Orchestral Intro (ft. Sinfonia ViVA)
2. Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach (ft. Snoop Dogg and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
3. White Flag (ft. Kano, Bashy, and the National Orchestra for Arabic Music)
4. Rhinestone Eyes
5. Stylo (ft. Bobby Womack and Mos Def)
6. Superfast Jellyfish (ft. Gruff Rhys and De La Soul)
7. Empire Ants (ft. Little Dragon)
8. Glitter Freeze (ft. Mark E. Smith)
9. Some Kind of Nature (ft. Lou Reed)
10. On Melancholy Hill
11. Broken
12. Sweepstakes (ft. Mos Def and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
13. Plastic Beach (ft. Mick Jones and Paul Simonon)
14. To Binge (ft. Little Dragon)
15. Cloud of Unknowing (ft. Bobby Womack and Sinfonia ViVA)
16. Pirate Jet

An intimate gathering of Weezer fans greeted me at the entrance of the Hollywood Palladium in eager anticipation of KROQ Presents Weezer and Wax. The line twisted around the block; garnished by Weezer tee shirts and multi-colored converses. Controlled chaos reigned supreme; courtesy was common, but the amount of positive energy was outrageous, unharnessed, and completely apparent.

The Palladium housed the crowd comfortably (I had enough room to air guitar solo to “My Name Is Jonas”) and by the time Wax ascended the stage, the balconies were teeming with anxious fans. For those who are unfamiliar with Wax, I don’t blame you. This particular show was their first live set in 14 years, and marks the reunion of Weezer and Wax sharing the same bill since they toured the same LA circuit in ’92 (Both bands moved to LA the same year). But, it sure didn’t seem as if they had lost their touch over the past decade plus. Their ska-studded set was energetic and efficient, despite the fact that the crowd hadn’t the faintest idea where this band had materialized from (I would guess the 90’s from the sound of their set).

But, the main attraction was yet to come, and it was blatantly acknowledged in the restless arena as Wax put up the Weezer “W” and gracefully bowed offstage. In between sets, the energy level heightened considerably. A horde of little girls donning Weezer gear skipped gleefully around the Palladium chanting the headliner’s moniker, and a roar went up in the arena once a KROQ crony had sufficiently introduced the band. And then there was Rivers. Rivers Cuomo has to be one of the greatest entertainers I have ever had the courtesy of observing from two feet away mid-performance. His gestures were overdramatized, leaving girls squealing with every awkward lunge of his limbs.

Appearing in matching white sweat suits, the band also sported a minor change of roster: drummer Pat Wilson armed himself with a bass for the set so that accomplished drummer, Josh Freese, could join them on electric drums (Freese has played with A Perfect Circle, The Vandals, Devo, and NIN). Their performance was nothing less than fantastic. Rivers made use of several props (a trampoline, a football, and his water, just to name a few), and smashed his acoustic guitar at the end of “Undone” after dragging it behind him while crawling on the brink of the stage. Rivers definitely glows in all of his delightfully geeky splendor. The set list included several unexpected covers including Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” and Blur’s “Song 2,” as well as, several new tracks off of their new album Raditude (one of which included a guest appearance by Sara Bareilles for a duet with Rivers). The band is swiftly heading East in support of the new album; their next show is scheduled for December 1st at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.

Weezer: website | myspace | @ maryland heights | Raditude review