Gorillaz in the Mist

Jackson Free Press

March 24, 2010

When Gorillaz released its self-titled debut album in 2001, the group had all the makings of a one-and-done band. It was being used as an undoubtedly gimmicky platform for a cartoon group, featuring one of the England’s biggest rock stars. Bands with this sort of makeup don’t last.

Except Gorillaz did. Granted, Dan the Automator (the producer) left after the debut, but Damon Albarn (lead singer of Blur) enlisted the production wizardry of Danger Mouse and released the outstanding follow-up, “Demon Days.” More impressive, rather than trying to cash in by releasing “Clint Eastwood 2,” Gorillaz was expanding its sound beyond the self-titled album’s confines. This evolution continues on its third release, “Plastic Beach.”

Gorillaz albums have always sounded post-apocalyptic. Listening to any of the albums is experiencing a world ravaged and destroyed by humans. It is a world dominated by sorrow and longing, yet occasionally tempered with occasional spouts of jubilation (hear the joyous “19-2000” on the band’s debut to counteract dreary “Clint Eastwood“).

“Plastic Beach” continues this aesthetic and, if anything, amps up the dreariness. The guest appearances are as plentiful as they are eclectic. The cohorts this time around range from the Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music to Bobby Womack to Snoop Dogg.

It takes about four songs before “Plastic Beach” starts really rolling. Snoop Dogg’s verses on “Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach” by and large miss the mark, and the musical accompaniment is not as imaginative or adventurous as we have come to expect from the group. Once the album hits “Rhinestone Eyes,” though, it becomes clear that we have walked into the next step of Gorillaz’ progression. It is a love song that displays all the twisted, moribund beauty—lyrically and musically—we have come to expect from the group.

From here, the album amps up the intensity as the band delves right into its lead single, “Stylo,” before turning the show over to De La Soul on one of the album’s true emotional highpoints: “Superfast Jellyfish.” De La Soul shows once again on this album why they are the perfect hip-hop counterpart (short of maybe Kool Keith) for Gorillaz. Long aficionados of over-the-top cartoony rhymes and stories, they blend right into Gorillaz’ similarly warped sense of reality.

Lou Reed (“Some Kind of Nature“) and Mick Jones and Paul Simonon from The Clash (“Plastic Beach“) each also throw themselves headfirst into this world, and their respective songs also stand out as the best work they have done in years.

The one thing this otherwise excellent album lacks is a standout single. It misses the type of song that can lure new listeners into this post-apocalyptic wasteland, the way “Dare” and “Feel Good Inc.” did on “Demon Days.” “Stylo,” the lead single, is a good song, but it is far too abstract to get anywhere near the airplay of the group’s preceding singles.

At this point, however, Gorillaz doesn’t care about recruiting new fans. Its wasteland is pretty crowded.

Original Article