Album Details

• Artist: Japandroids
• Album: Celebration Rock
• Label: Polyvinyl Record Co.
• Year of Release: 2012
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: rockthusiast on 2012-07-09

There is something to be said about making do with what you have and excelling with it. For lack of a better word, this is what is "celebrated" on the newest album by Vancouver, BC duo Japandroids, appropriately titled Celebration Rock. Over the course of what seems like a criminally short 35 minutes, university friends Brian King and David Prowse revel in the two-part working relationship they've been building on for the last six years. One that's comprised exclusively of bleeding fingers guitar strumming from King and frenetic, double-time drumming courtesy of Prowse. It is anything but fancy, yet Japandroids aren't likely to fall victim to becoming repetitive. If this band were a grocery store, they would give the nofrills supermarket chain in Canada a run for its money. Celebration Rock is a ferocious gust of wind in defiance of an industry fast becoming dominated by electronic music.

It is somehow fitting then that the record opens and closes with what sounds like fireworks celebrations. Like most public pyrotechnic displays, there are plenty of "oohs and ahhs." Some of these emotional reactions are provided by King and Prowse's "live for the moment" lyrics that go off repeatedly as Celebration Rock thrusts forward, fueled by a raw power that the Godfather of Punk Iggy Pop would even be impressed with. The album's biggest appeal, however, may lie in the fact that the majority of its eight songs just beg to be shouted along with live. Specifically, "The Nights of Wine and Roses", "Fire's Highway", and lead single "The House That Heaven Built" have an age-old, albeit wordless call and response quality to them which audiences will assuredly react to enthusiastically, especially once Japandroids begin their North American tour on June 11th in Seattle, WA.

User Reviews and Comments

on 2012-07-10 CharlesMartel Said:

Surprisingly I liked this, and I am not usually a fan of this frenetic pop punk sound. There was enough diversity and cleverness in it to make it well worth the effort
Not Rated

on 2012-06-03 hstisgod Said:

Just listened to the first single and dig it big fine, gritty but sharp, nice compact review, any stand out songs ROCKthusiast?
Not Rated

Review:

on 2012-06-02 ROCKthusiast Said:

Rating: 8/10