Las Vegas Weekly

[Noise-Pop]

Japandroids

Post-Nothing

Japandroids - Post-Nothing

“I don’t wanna worry about dying/I just wanna worry about the sunshine girls.” It’s the sort of shouted sentiment you’d expect from a 17-year-old, peeling out of the high-school parking lot for summer break. You needn’t be too young to vote to cast one for the first full-length from Vancouver duo Japandroids, however. If anything, the lyrics probably pack more meaning for 20-somethings—like members Brian King and David Prowse themselves—or for those who said goodbye to their teen years longer ago. Because really, who wouldn’t feel better after bellowing, “We used to dream/Now we worry about dying!” out a window?

The Details

Japandroids

Beyond the Weekly

Japandroids

Post-Nothing—which comes on the heels of two shambolic, self-released EPs—finds Japandroids reigning in their spastic, fuzzed-out sound somewhat, without sacrificing any raw energy. Over the course of eight songs covering just 36 minutes, the duo relinquishes (“The Boys Are Leaving Town”) and then pines for (“Young Hearts Spark Fire”) its adolescence, in the process vowing never to grow old on the inside (“Crazy/Forever”). Song structures range from punky rockers (“Wet Hair,” “Heart Sweats”) to stretched-out epics (“I Quit Girls”), but always—always—Japandroids keep their pop hooks in the foreground. It’s like the disc is daring you not to sing along.

More than anything, Post-Nothing makes one yearn to witness Japandroids’ electricity live, preferably in a small, dark space with stuff falling off the walls—a show no doubt best suited for youngsters but perhaps truly best experienced by their parents.

Know your Japantheon?

Guess which band names are legit:

1. Japanflute

2. Japancakes

3. Japandemic

4. Japantsuit

5. Japanther

6. Japanic! At the Disco

Answer: 2 and 5