Japandroids just might be the saviors of garage rock. Selfless and bursting with energy, they play music for all the right reasons. Heck, they streamed their entire discography for free on their Facebook page, including Post-Nothing, their newest release, months before its actual release. Self-described as ""2 sweethearts still naïve enough to think they'll never sell out,"" Japandroids are just like the band your two friends had in high school, only they're way, way better.
Japandroids are what Blink 182 could have been had they listened to more Guided by Voices and Pixies and less Smashmouth. The result is a bigger difference than you might expect, but it's ultimately what is going to make them such a hit. People who grew up loving Blink 182 will connect with the exuberant pop punk, and those of us who grew up too cool to admit listening to Blink 182 will still get sucked in by their above-the-influence approach to maturation and their no-bullshit take on post-adolescent angst.
""Adolescent"" has become a taboo in rock music that signifies an immature, almost insultingly juvenile product; but in the case of Japandroids, it means an ethos based on freewheeling simplicity. Japandroids write anthems for the demographic struggling with mounting responsibilities if only because they play with unbridled energy, purveying each lyric like it's the thesis to their autobiography.
Post-Nothing's lead single, ""Young Hearts Spark Fire,"" is pop rock in its most perfect form. It perfectly synthesizes the ignorant, carefree nature of their music with coming-of-age rallying cries that ultimately define their heart-on-sleeve recklessness. Profound and self-aware beyond their years, the two yell, ""You can keep tomorrow / after tonight we're not gonna need it,"" before confessing that they're ""beat up, beat down / on the ground but too drunk to feel it."" They simultaneously emote an impressively evolved sense of carpe diem and the embarrassing vulnerability that comes with it. All the while they hammer out some of the most endearingly infectious pop-punk around. Then they jump to the chorus, fueled by the irrepressible, albeit bleak, ""Oh, we used to dream / now we worry about dying."" ""Captivating"" doesn't quite do it justice.
The rest of the album doesn't fall off much, either. Even ""Heart Sweats,"" a song that threatens to be uninspired and plodding, eventually erupts into a flurry of cymbals and guitars while the two explain ""Some hearts bleed / my heart sweats.""
""Wet Hair"" is another standout track, rousing spectacular inspiration while changing little more than the fury with which they play.
Japandroids' distortion-heavy sound isn't ""noise."" Rather, it's the byproduct of a band too fervent, too emphatic and too restless to waste time cleaning up their production. And the best part about Japandroids is that they keep getting better. Each subsequent release has been more precise in its maneuvers as their musical skill finally catches up to their rampant zeal.
Throughout the years, garage rock bands have proven to be nothing if not destined to disappoint. Each exciting Mooney Suzuki and Vines outbreak ends up in brutal failure, as if the very existence of garage rock hype is for the sole purpose of breaking your heart.
Regardless, Post-Nothing's sincerity and directness are reassuring. It's a thoroughly accomplished debut from a band that is still very raw musically. What I mean is they're one garage rock band worth getting excited about.
