Japandroids, Celebration Rock
Featured Album
One 35-minute-long bro-hug
Japandroids’ Celebration Rock begins and ends with fireworks — not the county-fair variety, but the cheap, barely legal kind you set off in the woods with friends and then run away, giggling uncontrollably. The sound sets the tone for a sizzling, incandescent burst of a record, one that conjoins punk-rock fist-aloft solidarity and weepy heartland-rock sentimentality in one 35-minute-long bro-hug. Expect a lot of sloppy back-patting, acres of generous sentiment and a surplus of the sorts of lines perfectly calibrated to shout joyously in the face of your closest friends. “We’re lashing out at evil’s sway tonight,” for example. Or “Don’t we have anything to live for?/ Well, of course we do, but until they come true/ We’re drinking.” It’s a record that demands to be heard, and loved, in groups.
Which doesn’t make it mindless. As is usually the case with especially fierce good cheer, Celebration Rock is borne of desperation: The two-man Japandroids were minutes away from breaking apart, wilting under a lack of momentum, when they recorded its eight gasping, suitcase-compact anthems. Lead singer Brian King nearly died (perforated ulcer, an ailment about as far from “carefree rock ‘n’ roll” as you can get). A scan of the lyrics, excised from endorphins, unearths some fairly dark thoughts: “It’s a lifeless life/ With no fixed address to give/ But you’re not mine to die for anywhere, so I must live,” King screams on “The House That Heaven Built.” With just a guitar and a drum kit, meanwhile, the lifelong friends generate enough heat and momentum for an entire E Street band. Songs surge forward recklessly, explode, and then plow forward again. The relentless hurtling mirrors the philosophy expressed in the lyrics: Embrace life with the energy of an over-eager Labrador Retriever, no matter what it throws your way.
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Millheadon June 5, 2012 at 1:07 pm said: This album Kicks Ass! I don't get excited about Alternative Rock Bands much anymore, mostly because I am deathly tired of the hyper injected sentimentality and oh-so-important social message and meaningful, deep feelings (bletch!) that drip from the man-boy voices and syrupy lyrics. Thank you Japandriods! You have delivered me from the recent swill that has been labelled "alternative rock". This year I have rediscovered Social D, jammed to Gas Light Anthem and now will be blaring Japandroids with the windows down! Hallelujah! -
johnrsmithon June 7, 2012 at 2:46 pm said: This is one of the most worthless reviews I've ever read. It begins and ends with fireworks? And it's a bro-hug? Oh, well in that case... Save it for your journal. Please try to provide information that is somewhat useful to your audience. My time would have been much better spent checking out the individual tracks, which I was going to do anyway. Often, reviews will point me toward specific tracks or pique my interest where I might not have had much previously. That is certainly not the case here.
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EMUSIC-00A78DB4on June 15, 2012 at 9:21 pm said: This is my album of the year and Mr. Greene describes it just fine. Mr. "johnrsmith," you are an ignorant cretin. Anyone with a scintilla of knowledge about music could suss out the sound from the description. Punk meets heartland rock pretty much nails it.
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gmwdocon January 14, 2013 at 10:51 pm said: Extremely OverRated!! If they are not a flash in the pan, I might consider them more serious a a contender. The music seems to be too much of fad like to me. I been listening to alternative since the early days before in was classified as alternative and just plain punk or pop. They haven't sparked my alternate list as of yet. I want to be open minded, so my guess is time will tell. If we hear more of them with new works this year, I will try to be more willing to except them with a Pro Hug!!!
