Lively with the chords, enthusiastic on the drumming and unashamedly shouty on the vocals, Japandroids make the kind of accessible, uplifting brash punk-pop that reminds me of teenagers at skate parks eagerly hurling themselves at concrete ramps with the abandon of youth.
The tracks are a flurry of distortion, repetition and sentiments Carpe Diem and fuck it in nature. They scream of living for the moment, cautioning against growing up and taking life too seriously “I don’t want to worry about dying I just want to worry about those sunshine girls.” Clichéd perhaps, but then who wants to listen to a record about the joys of mortgages and impending incontinence.
The band are a Canadian export, signed to the Canadian independent Unfamiliar Records in January of last year with two, self-released limited edition EPs already in the bag - All Lies (2007) and Lullaby Death Jams (2008). Their debut LP, Post-Nothing, surfaced half way through 2009 after which they were taken on by Polyvinyl.
Post-Nothing is not the kind of minimal, pretentiously complex, inaccessible music you might expect from the title, in fact it’s quite the opposite. Brian King on guitar and David Prowse on drums, gallop along at breakneck speed through refreshingly simple arrangements, including the sunset-infused festival vibes of The Boys Are Leaving Town, with its huge drums and three lines of lyrics, and the puberty-rich intensity of Wet Hair: “Let's get to France so we can French kiss some French girls.”
The rolling drums introducing Heart Sweats create an anticipation you'll enjoy that's well matched by the attempt at darkness of the 'I hate girls'-style lyrics, although thankfully they lack that awkwardness you get with genuine, unresolved bitterness. I Quit Girls bemoans being similarly hard done by but is dominated and redeemed by a crackling guitar riff that repeats and repeats in aggressive refrain. I’ve heard this song described as ‘heartbreaking’ but I think that takes the sentiment way too seriously – these guys don’t do ballads. Young Hearts Spark Fire oddly enough reminds me of a distorted Black Kids as far as the vocal goes and is anthemic in its Peter Pan style call to arms, whilst Crazy/Forever may sound like it should be a Beyonce track but in fact is made up of some quality cymbal bashing over a belt and braces rock-heavy beat.
There's nothing complicated about this band or their music - they like drums, guitars and cymbals with a pinch of harmony thrown in for good measure. Despite, or maybe because of, the simplicity - the barely there lyrics and the uncomplicated set-up – the music has a raw, toothy charm that could well see them continue their 2009 successes into the next decade.
www.myspace.com/japandroids
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