Gorillaz - Demon Days

I can’t be the only one who’s noticed that what Damon Albarn is doing with Gorillaz is the most interesting and exciting stuff he’s done since Parklife, right? I mean, the last couple of Blur records, were just that…Blur records. No new ground was plowed, and the few steps out that were taken were not necessarily something I would have advised were I asked (as if). But with Gorillaz, Albarn has hit what may have been his true stride – at least his stride given what he has been about for about the last 8 years. Of course, Gorillaz is not just the Blur frontman. There are lots of other people involved and making cameo appearances on Demon Days, most notably Happy Mondays madman Sean Ryder and even Dennis Hopper, who dramatically reads on “Fire Coming Out of the Monkey’s Head.” Ryder’s contribution on “Dare” is outstanding. I’m not sure how much he himself had to do with the artistic direction of this song, but it gives us a glimpse of what the Manchester sound of the late 80s/early 90s might be if it had been allowed to progress naturally without altering its core psychedelic groove. Since Demon Days is the sophomore release from the animated quartet, I’m not going to spend time talking about how cool the characters are or how much Murdoch, the bass player, resembles just about every lanky, cool-as-shit bass player I can think of. You can Google that if you need to. This review is about the music. You should already know who they are by now anyway, and if the first single from the disc, “Feel Good Inc.,” hasn’t already made its way into your veins, you have issues. In addition to the obvious nods to hip-hop, courtesy of De La Soul in “Feel Good Inc.,” there are reggae beats (“Last Living Souls”), techno blips (“O Green World” and “All Alone”) and chilled ambient rhythms that are an absolute pleasure to experience. My personal favorite tracks are “Dirty Harry,” which alternates between a falsetto’d bounce with 80s throwback keyboards and a hot rap from Bootie Brown, the lopingly cool “Every Planet We Reach Is Dead,” featuring an unlikely piano solo from Ike Turner (what the…?), and the aforementioned “Dare.” You have to give them tons of credit. Gorillaz are a band who are not afraid of quirky breaks, unusual parings and who don’t take the easy way out to make a good song, and it shows. Demon Days is a brilliant album, and although I rarely give perfect scores, I just don’t see any way around it this time. If you love music, experimentation and art, you need to hear this record to hear a perfect blending of the three. [www.gorillaz.com]