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Gorillaz - Gorillaz
Reviewed
by
NME, March 2001
 Is west London an artistic state of
mind? For those living in Hounslow it is a tangible, grey
reality. But for generations of Bohemian musician types
it's represented a W11, genre-busting nirvana; where
cultures melt, bass bins boom, and middle-class white
boys talk in an embarrassing dubwise patois.
One can easily track the west London lineage
from The Clash's dub adventures through
to UNKLE's over-egged 'Psyence
Fiction' extravaganza (calling in at such trad
stalwarts of the scene as Brand New Heavies
or Jay Kay, and visiting disciples like Massive
Attack or Stereo MC's), before
ending up at 'Gorillaz', the ultimate
west London album. That its authors originate from
outside the postcode matters not. It is a perfect example
of the genre.
Gorillaz actually advance
the genre into a whole new dimension by not even
existing. They are a conceptual project that Blur's
Damon Albarn and illustrator Jamie
Hewlett (Tank Girl, west London class of
'93, guy) dreamt up using their minds. Wow. The
perfect west London group: a multi-cultural funky figment
of white, indie, suburbanite imagination - an interactive
cartoon band who use dub and hip-hop techniques to create
sickly-sweet bubblegum pop.
And it is quite good fun. More so to make
than to listen to, but that is already an improvement on 'Psyence
Fiction', the album that 'Gorillaz'
most resembles. That's because Damon has
such a pop nose that even sailing into uncharted Albarn
territory he remains tunefully anchored. Nowhere is this
more evident than on the album's real triumph, the single
'Clint Eastwood' - the best indie-dance
record in years, elevated so by Del Tha Funkee
Homosapien's singular rap.
There are other good bits, too. 'Tomorrow
Comes Today''s majestic melancholy sways to an Augustus
Pablo melodica and a Soul II Soul
rhythm. But, but, but...
It plods somewhat. It's so in love with the
limitless potential of its musical gadgetry, with all the
new ways Damon's discovered to sing,
with its ecleticism, that it becomes twee, wearisome. It
should be on Mo'Wax, a label that
patented the idea of the good bit.
Still, well done, Damon. He
really is very talented and he really can do many
different types of music. He can be the Tom Tom
Club as well as Pavement as
well as the Kinks. He can be west London
as well as Essex.
But whispers coming out of Parlophone
suggest that 'Gorillaz' might be where Damon
stops experimenting: he 'wants to compete again'. It's
good news. All this exciting experimentation sure makes
for some dull listening.
6/10
Ted
Kessler
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