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Gorillaz’ Demon Days plays like Damon Albarn’s attempt at making a The
The album. More to the point, Demon Days is the 2005 version of The The’s
excellent 1986 album Infected. There is a clear political agenda here –
war sucks, politicians suck, the earth is dying, and that sucks – and those
thoughts/rants are put to deceptively up-tempo, danceable beats. To make the
comparison complete, both albums sport backing vocals from Neneh Cherry. That
cannot be a coincidence.
Perhaps the most pleasant perversion associated with Demon Days is the
Gorillaz’ choice of producer. They enlisted Danger Mouse, the man who made his
name assembling the most illegal album in history (the Jay-Z/Beatles mash-up
The Grey Album, done without the permission of either artist), and his
versatility suits the band well. From the ominous, “Dawn of the Dead”-sampling
“Intro,” the band slips into the dub-inspired “Last Living Souls,” complete with
a vocal from Albarn (sorry, 2D) that’s straight from a Kinks record. In fact, 2D
cribs from Ray Davies more than once; first single and current iPod jingle “Feel
Good, Inc.” (shhhhh! It’s a scathing anti-war cry in disguise) steals entire
verses of “Sunny Afternoon.”
The most curious aspect of Demon Days may be how much of it sounds like
vintage Blur. Blur’s last album, Think Tank, was lost in a haze of
indecision, mainly in part to guitarist Graham Coxon’s departure. A couple
years’ distance has done Albarn good, as his songwriting is much more focused,
yet looser at the same time. Witness “Dirty Harry,” which is like “I’m Just a
Killer For Your Love” remixed by Tom Tom Club, or “O Green World,” another
Blur-era track with a deliciously funky left turn.
The album’s biggest surprise, though, is “Don’t Get Lost in Heaven,” a Beach
Boys-style piano riff complete with choir accompaniment. It’s one of the
prettiest things Albarn has ever written, and serves as a fitting antidote to
the lyric: “Don’t get lost in heaven / They got locks on the gate / Don’t go
over the edge / You’ll make a big mistake.” And even that lyric pales in
comparison to the preceding track, “Fire Coming Out of a Monkey’s Head,” a
spoken-word bit (read by Dennis Hopper, no less) that tells the story of
Happyfolk, Strangefolk, mining for jewels, and living in fear. Clearly, subtlety
takes a back seat here.
For a band that was conceived more as pop art than as a pop group, the Gorillaz
take a gigantic leap forward with Demon Days. Forget the cute videos like
“Clint Eastwood” or “19-2000.” The long-term prospects for Gorillaz, at this
point, are more promising than they are for Blur, Albarn’s “real” band. Either
way, Matt Johnson must be beaming with pride to see the Gorillaz fighting the
good fight.
~David Medsker
dmedsker@bullz-eye.com
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