“Heart Sweats”
from the album Post-Nothing
2009
iTunes
Vancouver duo Brian King and David Prowse throw themselves into every song as if it’s the last one they’ll ever play. That go-for-broke attitude carries Japandroids‘s full-length debut, which is less about the songs than the sheer joy of playing them.
King and Prowse suggest a couple of overgrown golden retriever pups playing fetch with a well-chewed tennis ball at the beach. King’s guitar is less about virtuosity than texture, evoking an ocean wave big enough to surf or the relentless throb of a factory machine. Prowse keeps the frenzy at a high pitch on drums, frequently thrusting himself into the foreground as lead soloist.
The give-and-take is like a garage-rock version of gospel music, building to feverish crescendos in which the guys purge their anxieties (“I don’t wanna worry about dying”) and declare their desire to have their hearts dashed against the rocks by those ever-elusive “sunshine girls.”
Even those who believe that there’s nothing new to express with a guitar, drums and two voices may have their jaded hearts melted by Japandroids’ blue-flame exuberance.