Pre-Something

Post-Nothing
Japandroids
Polyvinyl, 2009
4.5 stars

It might not sound like it, but this record, with its loud, full sound, is in fact the work of just two guys. They’re not the first ‘band’ to feature a two-person guitar/drums line-up; the White Stripes proved the formula at the start of the decade, and recently No Age have followed the trend, albeit with a decidedly less-polished approach. But Japandroids (a terrible band name, it must be said) still manage to wring their own unique sound from a minimalist setup often seen as a bit of a novelty. Post-Nothing is eight tracks of testosterone-fueled angst-pop, all crashing drums and angular, noisy guitars. These guys aren’t so much singing from the heart as somewhere just south of the belt buckle – most of the lyrics revolve around girls and getting pissed, the album’s catchiest moment the repeated chant “... must get to France so we can French-kiss some French girls” in the second-half of Wet Hair. But despite the cleverly-constructed don’t-give-a-shit veneer their lyrics and band name suggest, and under the layers of distortion and frat-boy chanting, these guys are a genuinely clever pop outfit, and Post-Nothing is as catchy as anything released in 2009.

Published in mX, Thursday September 3, 2009.