Since the release of their debut album in 2001, the Gorillaz have firmly established themselves as the pre-eminent British cartoon quartet. Originally conceived as a conceptual project between Blur front man Damon Albarn and “Tank Girl” creator Jamie Hewlett, the Gorillaz have finally reached sophomore status with the release of their new album, “Demon Days.”
Musically, the Gorillaz are a rare blend of up-tempo, hip-hop beats and catchy, indie styled vocal musings. According to their Web site, the Gorillaz consist of Noodle on guitar, 2-D delivering vocals, Murdoc Nicalls dropping the bass line and Russel Hobbs beating them drums. They signed to Parlophone after their very first gig in 1998 and have been crafting gems ever since.
Their first album sold more than 1.54 million copies in the United States alone and 6 million worldwide. Such success has left the band with very large shoes to fill on their second installment. Arguably, the group raises the bar to a new level with Albarn sharing production duties with Danger Mouse, replacing Dan the Automator, who handled production duties on the Gorillaz debut. Danger Mouse is of course a hot commodity these days, having enjoyed a fair degree of pop notoriety since the release of his “Grey Album” – a mash up between The Beatles “White Album” and Jay-Z’s “Black Album.”
“Demon Days” is something of the definitive hipster record for 2005; it features an all-star cast of characters from the forefront of what is hot in music today. The eclectic list of contributors includes Roots Manuva, De La Soul, MF Doom, Chromeo, rock legend Ike Turner, the Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder and even film star Dennis Hopper.
The group retains their signature sound, something of a rock/hip-hop hybrid which bares little or no resemblance to the ubiquitous rap-rock clogging the airwaves as of late. This time around however, the Gorillaz have a slightly mellower sound, much more in the vein of Danger Mouse’s break out “Grey Album” than traditional hip-hop.
Some standout tracks include the incredibly infectious “Feel Good Inc.,” which features De La Soul delivering out of this world vocodered raps over a deliciously catchy bass line. Arguably this track’s innovative vocal styling finds De La Soul delivering some of their best verses since “AOI.”
Another stellar track is the multi-layered “Dirty Hairy,” which features what appears to be a children’s choir harmonizing over a light but catchy drum-fueled number. Throughout the course of the song the Gorillaz seamlessly weave back and forth between serene down-tempo grooves and an up-tempo bass bounce.
On “Kids With Guns,” the Gorillaz craft a slow lilting number around a sample of Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It.” “O Green World” finds the group experimenting with a sound much more reminiscent of Blur than hip-hop. In a similar vein, “Every Planet We Reach Is Dead” and “White Light” find the group evoking an emo-tinged, neo-soul sound. Stand-out lyrics include such heartfelt vocal musings as, “Picture I’m a dreamer, I’ll take you deeper, down to the sleepy glow.”
To round out the album the Gorillaz throw in a slightly more solid hip-hop sound with “November Has Come,” which highlights current indie hip-hop renaissance man, MF Doom. The beat is classic Doom all the way, an oddly off-beat number that manages to maintain focus for the entire three minutes of its duration. As always, Doom drops lyrical science like a heavy-handed chemist. He effortlessly delivers complex lines such as ” She wore a filled-in thong, from Billabong and said nah for real, you’re a feeling my gorilla john.” If your the adventurous type, buy the vinyl and slow this track down to negative six for an extra special, dirty south, chopped and screwed version.
“Dare,” another standout track, includes the Vice Magazine protégé band, Chromeo, delivering an upbeat, new-wave sounding number that could only be described as electro-bounce. Upon first listening, this one had me dancing around my bedroom in sweat pants at 10 o’clock in the morning. Based on that, I can easily envision the ladies bumping and grinding to this track at sweaty late night house parties.
For an extra bit of peculiarity, actor Dennis Hopper delivers spoken-word incantations over a happy Beach Boys-esque number titled “Fire Coming Out of a Monkey’s Head” to close the show out.
Taken as a whole, this album appears to be ahead of its time. Blurring the lines between multiple genres of music, yet managing to stay coherent enough to fit all the pieces together comfortably. In my opinion, this is by far one of the best albums to be released this year in any of the genres covered by its broad musical thumbprint.
