WSBU Presents: Pirate Radio
Apr 16, 2013
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You NEED to listen to: JAPANDROIDS!
:: August 19, 2009 :: by Peter Cauvel
Critics are often too quick to label music, slapping together hyphenated descriptions, until the words mean almost nothing. Canadian duo Japandroids defy this and categorize themselves simply as "garage rock." They certainly aren't The White Stripes, though. The garage rock revival earlier this decade over-simplified music. The multitude of lackluster carbon copies quickly outnumbered the talented few. Japandroids, citing the Sonics as one of their primary influences, abandoned the traditional approach to the genre in favor of something fuzzier, louder, and more dynamic. Their music is anything but minimalist, despite featuring only guitar and drums. The finished product sounds like a hybrid of the post-hardcore of Braid and the Promise Ring and the fuzz of No Age and Wavves.
If there's one word to sum up Post-Nothing, their debut LP, it's youth. Youth is not synonymous with inexperience, though. Japandroids can hold their own as musicians. The fist-pumping, sing-along choruses are matched with intricate guitar riffs. The feeling it conveys is the only simple thing about their music. The songs on Post-Nothing, featuring lyrics like "You can keep tomorrow/After tonight, we're not gonna need it," express feelings of teenage invincibility. Although they aren't the first, there's still a refreshing ring to it. Critics have already generated new labels, including "post-teenage," to describe their music. Japandroids most likely titled their debut Post-Nothing, because they'd prefer to just call it "garage rock."
Check out "Young Hearts Spark Fire," off of Post-Nothing (high quality is recommended):