Japandroids
Celebration Rock
Polyvinyl
Jul 18, 2012
Web Exclusive
You remember when you were about 16 or 17 at school, and there was that shit kid in your class who was kinda book-smart but mistook his own cod-cynicism for Wildean wit? Well now he has his confirmed musical equivalent in Japandroids, whose debut Post Nothing saw them leap straight into the apathy and weariness of being in a touring band and whose sophomore effort Celebration Rock continues the trend of having a title less than one-tenth as wry as it thinks it is.
Aptly, the title is about as subtle and nuanced as the record itself: a short, samey burst of enjoyable, yet disposable, garage rock. At its best, on tracks such as “The House That Heaven Built,” it recalls Galaxie 500’s energetic post punk/pop sound and adds jumped-up vocals, and there’s some genuinely impressive instrumentation. All too often, though, it’s an attempt at this exact same sound that lacks any ideas; not so much directionless as without destination.
Author rating: 6/10
Average reader rating: 9/10
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July 18th 2012
11:40pm
Jesus Christ, why does UTR keep hiring such shitty writers? This is why I cancelled my subscription.
August 19th 2012
10:34pm
Was that “shit kid” you? what the fuck is a shit kid? Who the fuck is your editor? The second sentence of the article is one of the biggest trainwrecks I’ve read in days. Jesus this is awful.
October 30th 2012
10:14pm
“Galaxie 500’s energetic post punk/pop sound”
have you ever listened to galaxie 500?