There are two sides to Beck: a white boy rapper and a folk singer. Between these polar opposites Beck has managed to create a career out of a tight rope act from which a lesser artist would have fallen. And with his latest release “Guero,” fans of his mix-and-match style will find he still has a few tricks up his sleeve – this time a return to his roots.
In 1994, Beck’s “Mellow Gold” hit shelves carried by what became Generation X’s theme song — Loser. Two years later his follow-up, “Odelay,” proved he was no one-trick-pony. And now, a decade after his first major release, Beck again does the unthinkable by hitting rewind on his metaphorical iPod with the release of an all too familiar sounding album in what could be “Odelay 2.0.”
Whether Beck fans are superstitious or not, the 13 tracks on “Guero” will delight the most fickle while staying within the confines of an album with no true stand outs. However, with no singular song to steal the spotlight from lesser known tracks, Guero is held up on its overall presentation and not by one track dynamo. In fact, the only subpar part of “Guero” is at times Beck’s vocals can be unrecognizable because of being drowned in layers of instrumentals.
Produced by the Dust Brothers (Mike Simpson and John King), known for their work on “Odelay” and The Beastie Boys’ “Paul’s Boutique,” “Guero” is filled with elements and samples ranging from the Beastie Boys’ “So What’cha Want” to the Brethren’s “Outside Love.”
Like a roller coaster ride “Guero” will take listeners on a trip through the heavy guitars and slurred rap of “E-Pro,” the albums first single, to “Farewell Ride’s,” slow tempo somber-as-a-coffin-sound with lyrics such as “I don’t see the face of / kindness I don’t hear the / mission bells I don’t smell/ the morning roses all I see is / two / white horses in / a line / carrying me to my burying / ground.”
Add the juxtaposed lyrics and instrumental arrangements of “Rental Car,” which sings of a reaper and the end of the road disguised as a bubble-gum-sunny-day song, and “Guero” becomes a well-rounded collection of both hip lighthearted songs and abstract crooning.
The third track on the album, “Girl,” offers what will undoubtedly be the albums next single. Reminiscent of The Beach Boys’ harmonization and the playful electronic beeps and whistles of a early Nintendo videogame, “Girl,” stands out as the closest thing to a love song on the album. Yet masked inside the songs happy-go-lucky sound are dark lyrics such as “I’m gonna make her die / take her where her should belongs and I know I’m gonna steal her eye nothing that I wouldn’t try.”
Between “E-Pro,” “Girl” and the rest of Guero’s tracks, fans of Beck’s odd ball behavior will have no reason not to add “Guero” to their CD collection. Whether for nostalgia or not, Beck’s revisit to the days of an “Odelay”-sound was a stunt that has paid off.
