Despite the initial zaniness and seeming disposability of a Damon Albarn-fronted, Jamie Hewlett inked, cartoon band, Gorillaz quickly rose to the challenge in presenting artistically crafted pop songs, run through all the genre spastic filters you could imagine. When their debut came out, it struck just the right note between self-conscious pop and creative collaboration from the many different voices that were heard, and unheard, on the album. This style of schizophrenic pop was exactly right for the time and place from which it was borne. And following on the success of that album, Demon Days found the band, for by that time Gorillaz was beginning to feel as a whole, rather than a simple collection of parts, continuing the genre-bending pop slant introduced on their previous album. So, naturally, expectations were high for their next new full-length, which was released this year in the form of Plastic Beach. And from the Bobby Womack funk on single "Stylo" to the day-glo pop blast of Gruff Rhys/De La Soul collaboration "Superfast Jellyfish", Plastic Beach incorporates all the stylistic turns, and some yet to be turned, that the previous albums only hinted at and comes away with a monster of a strangely cohesive album. Forget the superficial environmental messages and focus on the unsettling themes of personal disposability ever-present on these tracks and you'll find Albarn and cohorts mining fertile ground for the sort of darkly surreal, cross-eyed pop that we've come to expect from them.
Tracklisting:
01. Orchestral Intro
02. Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach
03. White Flag
04. Rhinestone Eyes
05. Stylo
06. Superfast Jellyfish
07. Empire Ants
08. Glitter Freeze
09. Some Kind of Nature
10. On Melancholy Hill (listen to the mp3 below)
11. Broken
12. Sweepstakes
13. Plastic Beach
14. To Binge
15. Cloud of Unknowing
16. Pirate Jet
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