Gorillaz: Cracker Island Review


 

I may always have a painful thorn in my side about the slow slide into ambivalence I've had about Gorillaz. It's not a sentiment I burden alone I'm sure. Everyone knows that signature evil laugh from Feel Good, and the moldy music backing it up until the mist breaks for a second during the chorus. Damon Albarn shouldn't be criticized for not continuing to make that song over and over, though. Demon Days was full of ideas, because that's what Albarn always wanted. This group is proof of that. And so I in all fairness recognize that I just have to wait for the pendulum to swing back my way. It works for Beck, after all.

I've never been a fan of when Albarn gets introspective. Gorillaz as a project is built on guest appearances taking the mic and creating a happier-but-darker version of the land of Oz. When Albarn doesn't allow others to be the center of attention, presenting as characters in the land, the illusion fades. That's extremely the case on this record. There's a sense that Albarn rushed this, with a fairly small scale production being my biggest tipoff. Past that, there's not a lot of direction, both lyrically and musically, in the bulk of the record.

The lineup gives mixed results this time around. Bad Bunny? Stevie Nicks? I mean, sure, they're as left field as Lou Reed was, but nobody is being as deliciously weird as Reed was allowed. I'll give it to Thundercat for bringing the energy on Cracker Island; that's a keeper hearkening back to DARE on Demon Days. It's fairly bland after that until Tame Impala and a returning Bootie Brown wake it back up for New Gold, but even then I feel like I've already tread this ground on the album. Beck is back, and that should be a highlight. I may like having new characters around, but I like the old characters as well. We need De La Soul, we need Little Dragon. If MF Doom was still with us, nothing would make me happier than one more collaboration. But the biggest thing he needs back has been true for almost 2 decades now: Danger Mouse made Gorillaz, and it's been lacking ever since.

This isn't the first time Albarn has decided to take a larger percentage of the vocal work. To be fair, there's nothing wrong with his voice or presence as the lead. If you buy into the world that he and comic artist Jamie Hewlett have created, Albarn presents as a tour guide most of the time. So having him giving us a tour of....seemingly nothing....is about as exciting as it was the previous times it happened on The Fall and The Now Now. I'd even argue The Now Now had more breadth to it. Here, most of the songs are 1 part synth, 1 part drums, and 1 part sleepy Albarn. It would be easy to accept this dream-pop if there weren't so much of it. I haven't heard this much homogeneity since Jungle's first album.

I'm not sure I'll remember any of these songs, even three months from now. That's the same thing I felt for the last 3 albums. The lack of a darker tone is still missing, and that's really holding the album back. There's no anger to be had. I'd even settle for just a more aquatic leaning like we had on Plastic Beach. We were all so excited back when Humanz came out, and in retrospect it should have served as a warning.

 

5/10

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