| Summary: ASBO disco post new rave grindie quintet make music that isn't for you people. |
We'll probably never figure out just what it is that makes music special, but one pretty good argument states that the best popular music has the ability to attach itself to a certain moment in your life and forever remind you of that time. Whether it's "All My Life" being played for the last dance at your prom, or "Angels" reminding you of your best friend's funeral, there's something in that music that has at least lead to somebody choosing to play it in the first place. With that in mind, I don't think I've ever encountered a song so obviously special, by this criteria, as Hadouken!'s "That Boy, That Girl". Recently I returned to my hometown for a friend's birthday, and with roughly three exceptions, EVERY white person I saw could be described using just the lyrics to this song.
That boy's a Hoxton hero
Skinny fit jeans and dressed in pink
How he dresses I care zero
As long as he don't steal my drink
That girl's an indie Cindy
Lego haircut and polka-dot dress
I don't care if she thinks she's indie
How she's different is anyone's guess
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I went to a gig but nobody danced
Everyone was far too cool
All the kiddies, they just stood there
Is it the same at the public schools?
With lyrics as cutting and to-the-point as that, Hadouken! could basically write any old music and the song would at least be a minor success. And yet, the band are sonically mental - if there is such a thing as nu rave, Hadouken! are surely its most perfect proponents yet, a band so far ahead of their contemporaries that people have coined the most hideously bad genre names to describe them ('ASBO disco' and 'grindie' not even being the funniest examples). There's bits of rave, house, chiptune, punk, nu-metal, happy hardcore, grime, big beat, dubstep, Licensed to Ill, Music For The Jilted Generation, The Killers, "Atlantis to Interzone" - seemingly everything the band can lay their hands on, good or bad, just as long as it can be played at parent-annoying volume. The only time Music For An Accelerated Culture stops for breath is the gaps between the songs.
What that means in practice is that the band get better the dumber they get. Anyone disappointed by the unexpectedly normal lead single "Declaration of War" will be pleased to know it's almost the worst song here; striving for this kind of Black Kids-meets-Klaxons semi-epic just plain doesn't suit them (and neither does directly lifting synth lines from the three songs preceding it on the album). No, they're much better even when they're just making as much noise as possible and busting out lyrics that are objectively bad - "Crank It Up" namedrops the iTunes library, MySpace profile songs, MSN Messenger, Trojan viruses, and ringtones, and yet somehow it still works, even if it will be dated by about June 12th. It acts as a fairly good barometer for the album as a whole, too. The band might be adept at describing nights out, but any attempt at insight beyond that is frankly embarrassing; the one-chord "Spend Your Life" is likely to be the worst song you hear all year, boasting as it does an utterly cringe-worthy rant about the credit crunch that the band probably wrote before they left high school. They only really succeed when they're either making their own dumb music, or stealing ideas from other bits of dumb music (note the Adam Ant stomp on "Mister Misfortune", or the UK garage vocal sample on "What She Did") - and luckily, that's exactly what they do for eight of the eleven tracks here. The other exception is the Killers rip "Driving Nowhere", which is inarguably the best sonic departure here - and even that starts with the line 'they go out tonight'.
Yet, sonic departures were never what Hadouken! were going to be about. They announce as much within the first 27 seconds of the album, when a Safri Duo-esque intro gives way to a synth riff that sounds like an ambulance siren trying to play Bodyrox's "Yeah!"; the song is called "Get Smashed Gate Crash", as if you needed a hint. By "Game Over", they're making just about the funniest/cutest rap boast of 2008 so far ('We've got more bars than JD Wetherspoon'), while making constant, blatant references in the direction of Basement Jaxx. On "Liquid Lives" they've dropped all pretence, shouting 'Drink! Smoke! ***! Fight!'. That's basically what you can expect from Music For An Accelerated Culture - ballsy synths, smart-*** lyrics about getting wasted, and plenty of youthful arrogance and swagger. They're clearly a one-trick pony band, something "Spend Your Life" and "Decleration of War" only throw in sharper relief. Still, it's a good trick, and the album is short enough for it to not become tiresome.
The scene kids Hadouken! attack in a lot of their lyrics will obviously hate this record. They'll probably quote all sorts of reasons - their desperately uncool influences, their shameless desire to have fun, the fact that it's taken 18 months from the release of "That Boy, That Girl" to the release of this album, whatever. They'll probably draw attention to the online marketing the band have proven themselves masters of, or the fact that singer James Smith used to produce for a grime record label, as if either of those details have anything to do with music. Regardless, the reason the straight edge/Libertines fanboy/stupid haircut/4chan music forum set won't like this is simply because it's not meant for them. It's meant for the people who mock those people, for the people that think having fun is still the primary reason to listen to music and sharing an interest is still the best reason to tell their mates about a band. Music For An Accelerated Culture might not be the most impressive, consistent, or timeless record you'll hear this year, but Hadouken! know their audience, know their music, and know their culture, and when they get things right they're quite simply the best at what they're doing right now.
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I remember listening to what I assume was their demos a long time ago, from a new listen they seem to have really stepped things up since them. They're still a gimmick band though, can't see them having any staying power.
Great review as always.
Digging: Portishead - Third
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I checked this out awhile ago, after seeing it on a blog and I wasn't too impressed.
I might give'er another shot later.
Digging: Russian Circles - Station
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They're still a gimmick band though, can't see them having any staying power.
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Kinda. Like I say, a couple of these songs will obviously date really badly. It sounds good now, though.
Digging: Hadouken! - Music For An Accelerated Culture | | |
You should no some background information on this band and talk about Street Fighter with Ryu and Ken doing HADOUKEN!!!! SHOU RYU KEN!!!!
Digging: Sevendust - Chapter VII: Hope And Sorrow
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Not really.
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I checked this out awhile ago, after seeing it on a blog and I wasn't too impressed.
I might give'er another shot later.
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To be honest, if you didn't like it first time it's unlikely to grow on you. There were a load of fake leaks floating around though, so it might be worth checking if you got the right one.
This Message Edited On 05.07.08
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What cracks me up about this band is all their whining about the very scene that gave them their following and still constitute the majority of their fanbase, which they encourage by continuing to dress according to "scene" stereotypes. Hmmm... scene kids pretending they aren't scene kids... how original. 
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in some way they remind me of shiny toy guns and birthday massacre.
Digging: X Godlike Japan - Blue Blood
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Most times I've seen them they've just been dressed normally (save for the singer's hat). Even the photoshoots they've done, where their attire was probably hand-picked by professional stylists, largely just have them wearing plain black. They can't really help who their fans are, either, especially when "That Boy, That Girl" was their first release. Compare that to a band like Tool, who didn't begin bitching about their fans until four years after their first major release. People knew what they were buying into, and if they like Hadouken! despite being the victims of their rants, I don't see why the band should be apologetic about it.
In any case, this is a music forum, not a fashion forum.
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To be honest, if you didn't like it first time it's unlikely to grow on you. There were a load of fake leaks floating around though, so it might be worth checking if you got the right one.
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Well thanks for giving it to me straight but I will try again, it was just the vocals I couldn't stand.
I think it was a legit copy, pretty sure I got it from Itleaked.
This Message Edited On 05.07.08
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holy crap. this band name is amazing.
Digging: Mors Principium Est - Liberation = Termination
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isnt it^^
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iai-- Yes it's a music forum, which would be why I am criticizing their lyrics, which is a part of their music. They lash out at something they are a part of. It's stupid really. Every scene kid/band claims they aren't a scene kid/band. It's getting annoying. It would be mitigated some though if their songs weren't annoying as f*ck.
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They don't actually claim not to be part of the current indie/dance sort of scene. The song in question was released absolutely ages ago (mid-06) and it was intended to be ironic.
Digging: Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
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can't help but saying that out loud
Digging: Minus The Bear - Planet Of Ice
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Iai with another great review. The music on here is really really weird, but kinda hypnotic as well.
Digging: Antonio Vivaldi - The Four Seasons
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Motion d,d/f,f + punch FTW
Anyone who doesn't know what that is can summarily kill themselves.
Digging: Have A Nice Life - Deathconsciousness
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Does anyone notice that when Ryu has Ken in a headlock (I think in Alpha 2) before a match, it sounds like he says "Gott Ecstasy All Day!!!", maybe I'm just hearing things
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Motion d,d/f,f + punch FTW
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lol yes. Greatest use of the d-pad ever.
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Lame band. Great review though.
Digging: Ihsahn - angL
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ASBO disco post new rave grindie quintet
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is this a serious genre?
Digging: Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet
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