Album of the Week: Japandroids - Post-Nothing

After hearing every new sub-genre, synth-flavoured, elaborately orchestrated release in the indie cannon from the past five years or so, it seems the part that is often left out of the indie-rock equation is the rock. Sure, I may be one of the set to enjoy a genre defying track or meaningful lyric more than a guitar solo, but sometimes it seems as if the genre has forgotten its foundation by noise-makers like Husker Du, the Replacements, Sonic Youth, and Dinosaur Jr. At least it did until recently. A trend seems to have come about where groups no longer seem afraid to plug into their amps and hurt some people’s ears: Titus Andronicus, No Age, and Cymbal Eat Guitars are all indebted to this resurgence of volume and intensity into indiedom, but it is Vancouver’s Japandroids that are truly ahead of the pack. The garage noise duo, consisting of Brian King and David Prowse, seem spiritually kindred to punk forefathers the Ramones. Like their New York processors, the Japandroids produce unapologetically fast, loud, and naïve songs about road trips, going to shows, and girls, yet never fall into the pits of machismo indulgence nor stupidity. The music of the duo’s full length debut Post-Nothing is deceptively simple, in that though the music may seem straight foreword it works with themes and ideas more complex than they initially appear. “Wet Hair”, which arguably holds the album’s most over the top lyric about moving to France to French kiss some French girls also holds an admission about futility (“She had wet hair/say what you will/I couldn’t resist it”). The opener “The Boys are Leaving Town” is so ambiguous with its mantra-like repeated lyric “The boys are leaving town/Will we find our way back home?” it doesn’t dispel itself easily as either an escapist anthem or existential query. And then there is “Young Hearts Spark Fire”, not only the group’s most shinning moment to date but also the song that best summarizes the band’s ideology: “I don’t wanna worry about dying/I just wanna worry about sunshine girls.” It’s a return to rock, or perhaps better put, a return to the fun that rock can make a listener feel even when dealing with heavier topics. It’s all utterly catchy, exuberating, and will definitely make you smile.

Listen To: Young Hearts Spark Fire, Wet Hair, The Boys are Leaving Town

RIYL: No Age, Mclusky, Titus Andronicus