Post by The Curmudgeon on May 14, 2008 21:21:24 GMT 2
For a limited time only! Things The Curmudgeon actually LIKES! Part Two!
It's that time once again, faithful readers. Time to stop attacking the wretched dross available on this site and embrace the very best things that makes The Curmudgeon NOT wish hot, burning death on everyone on the planet. In short - its a time of celebration. And hey - YOU'RE invited.
Now, usually I review all-time classic things, of which have either changed The Curmudgeon's world or inspired him or pretty much changed the face of their respective genre's. In the past there's been Bowie, Prince, the Marvel Universe, the Simpson's.. pretty much untouchable stuff.
Well, I'm going down a different route for this one, the second in a limited run of "Positive" reviews. I'm giving a five star rating to something that was only out a few months ago, because unless something amazing comes along, its going to be The Curmudgeon's album of 2008.
"You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into" by electro-rock noise makers Does It Offend You, Yeah? (Man, good job there's no real word limit on these reviews - the album and band would take up about half of it).
If anything, this serves as an example of why free (LEGAL) downloads can be a good thing, and the new power the internet has in discovering new music. Everyone seems to be calling free downloads the death of the industry, with heavy hitters like Coldplay and Prince giving stuff away, to the sounds of death cries by the major labels. But check this out; I had never heard of DIOYY until I got a free download of Let's Make Out. I listened to it. I liked it. I listened to it again. I loved it.
On the strength of that ONE download I invested some time into reading up on the band. Through the net I discovered they were playing live in my town. So I bought tickets, went to the show and they blew me away. Yeah, I only new one song but that didn't matter - they were superb (and friendly guys afterwards, too). So then I bought this album. There you have it, major labels - a dedicated fan, buying tickets and records - all because of one free download. Something to think about.
Anyway, I digress. Looking at the track listing, with "zany" titles like "Dawn of the Dead", "Epic Last Song" and, ahem, "Attack of the 60ft Lesbian Octopus" you could imagine a bunch of chancers with one good song and 9 other filler tracks of pointless noise. How wrong you would be.
No song lasts more than four minutes, so there's no 10 minute instrumental acid funk snore-fest to skip. In fact, there's very little pretentious indulgence; every track is tight, catchy, addictive dance music. In fact, "Dawn of the Dead" and "Epic Last Song" in particular are great (whisper it) pop songs.
In todays age, albums are in danger of being ignored, with people downloading a few select tracks from I-Tunes and throwing them on an MP3 player. With traditional tracklists fast becoming a thing of the past, its nice to see a band so in touch with the modern age create an album that sounds so seamlessly put together, that really DOES need to be experienced "the old fashioned way." Every track sounds just right after the other, in such a way that you couldn't imagine it any other order.
It really is a great album; packed with songs that make you want to dance, make you want to sing with a hairbrush into the mirror and with songs that make you want to smash a chair over someone's head, WWE style.
Really, what more could you ask for?
Album of the year, then? Try band of the year too.
And that, good reader, is Part Two in my list of the great and the good. But what could possibly be up next? Only one way to find out..
See: Does It Offend You, Yeah - Let's Make Out
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6_ubiAzoSk
