Gorillaz - Self-Titled

I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad. I got sunshine, in a bag.

Hi Son,

The student union at my undergraduate institution used to play music videos on constant loop in the main eating area. Believe it or not, there used to be television channels dedicated just to showing music videos. During the spring of my freshman year, a music video came on that was animated. Now animated music videos were not uncommon. The first image it showed was “Gorillaz” in red front with the sub-caption “Every dead body that is not exterminated, gets up and kills, the people it kills get up and kill.” It then starts into this really cool drum beat with keyboards. It shows a drummer followed by a bass guitarist, lead guitarist and then a lead vocalist with black circles for eyes. The whole image building on itself was pretty eerie. Including the opening line: “Ooo ooo ooo ooo. I ain’t happy. I’m feeling glad. I got sunshine in a bag. I’m useless, but not for long. The future is coming on.” That chorus repeats itself and then the symbols crash four times and a blue cartoon figure larger than everyone else on the screen slams into the video and begins rapping. “Finally, someone let me out of my cage. Now time for me is nothing ‘cause I’m counting no age.” The song is the large blue cartoon character rapping with the same chorus from the beginning of the song added in throughout. At the end of the music video it shows the names of the four-piece rock band (shown below). This music video was played constantly in the student union. It just kept growing on me over on time. It’s easily one of my favorite music videos.

I’m pretty stoked to go over this record, because it’s a record that isn’t only something that means a lot to me but also to your mother. I want to go back to the origin of the animated group “Gorillaz” that I mentioned above. Britpop was a genre in the 1990s, which featured four groups originating from the UK. They were Oasis, Pulp, Suede and Blur. Just like Grunge, there was a fairly meteoric peak followed by a very steep drop. In 1998, the lead singer of Blur, Damon Albarn, started a collaboration with cartoonist Jamie Hewlett. Legend has it that Albarn and Hewlett came up with the idea for a virtual band. This was while watching MTV and the two coming up with the conclusion that “if you watch MTV for too long, it's a bit like hell - there's nothing of substance there. So we got this idea for a cartoon band, something that would be a comment on that.” The virtual band’s name would be called Gorillaz, which comprised of four members: 2-D (lead vocals, keyboard), Murdoc (bassist), Noodle (guitars, keyboards, vocals) and Hobbs (drums, percussion). Albarn would go on to assume the voice and vocals of 2-D, while the other members of the band would be voiced by various individuals over the years.

The first album the Gorillaz would release was self-titled. It was released in March 2001 in the UK and June 2001 in the US. The style of the music was defined by critics as “alternative rock, lo-fi, dub, hip hop, trip hop, art pop with elements of punk rock, rap rock, art rock, Britpop, Latin and bubblegum pop.” My first listen through the record definitely covered every sound described in that statement. The opening track is “Re-Hash.” It begins with a cool baseline and drum beat and then an upbeat-sounding guitar riff. Overall, it’s a cheery-sounding track. Track 2 is “5/4” which sounds dirtier off the bat compared to “Re-Hash.” The song gets it’s name from the time signature that Noodle uses in her guitar riffs throughout the song. Then we come to one of the record’s singles in Track 3, “Tomorrow Comes Today.” For each of the four singles released, a music video coincided along with it. Like the music video I went over to start, “Tomorrow Comes Today” is another attention grabber. The animation by Jamie Hewlett is so good. The song itself has a very laid back feel to it. 2-D’s vocals (Albarn) use a lot of falsetto, but it is very subdued. A harmonica accompanies most of the background music. It’s a very cool song and easily one of their best in their entire catalog.

Track 4 is another really cool track, “New Genius (Brother).” It has a very similar feel to “Tomorrow Comes Today.” Then we come to easily the most successful single on the record, and arguably the most recognized song created by Albarn with the Gorillaz. The song is the exact same song of the music video I described at the beginning. The repeating music line generated by a drum machine a string machine and a melodica, would be the inspiration for the name of the song. The music was likened to a movie called “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” It’s one of the most popular theme songs for any movie ever and maybe the most adopted from any Western film released. The actor who played “The Good” was Clint Eastwood. So because of this distinction, Albarn would name this song “Clint Eastwood.” The lyrics to the song were rapped by Del the Funky Homosapien. If you remember in the music video that was the “blue cartoon figure larger than everyone else.” Del would also contribute to another track. Everything about this song is legendary to me. It’s just so brilliant. One last thing to mention is that “Gorillaz” made their first musical appearance on “Saturday Night Live” two months ago. Damon Albarn chose to go with “Clint Eastwood” as the first of two songs they would perform that night.

The next four tracks are eclectic. Track 6 is “Man Research (Clapper).” An interesting tidbit on this song is that it was only played live on their tour to promote their self-titled record. It hasn’t been played live since. Track 7 is “Punk” which is the shortest track on the record. It’s a pretty fun sounding song. The next two tracks are “Sound Check (Gravity)” and “Double Bass.” When I listen to the album the whole way through, these two songs almost feel like an intermission. They’re a really great bridge heading into the third of four singles, Track 10 “Rock the House.” This is the second song that Del the Homosapien is featured. Like the music video for “Clint Eastwood” the music video for “Rock the House” has the same large blue character. The music features the trumpet in the background which is really why this song slaps (that is officially the first time I have tried to use that term). I hadn’t really listened to this song until I met your mother (imagine me saying that with the voice of Bob Saget, RIP). She knew every word to this song when we were dating and I’m fairly sure she could still rap along with Del word-for-word if she wanted. One tidbit about the music video is the last third of the video has Murdoc deflecting balls being thrown at a target by thrusting his crotch at them. It makes me laugh when I watch it.

The next track is the fourth and final single, “19-2000.” I love this track, but what I did not know until recently is that it involves two members from one of my favorite all-time bands, “Talking Heads.” Tina Weymouth would provide backing vocals and Chris Frantz would contribute “additional percussion” on "19-2000.” The music video is maybe my favorite of the four mentioned. It has the four of them in their “Geep” (which is the vehicle featured on the album cover) with Murdoc driving and 2-D sitting in the passenger’s seat singing the lyrics. Murdoc is driving around a highway with seemingly several sections of it missing. The scene looks to be post-apocalyptic. They’re being chased by a UFO and eventually come up to a moose. Murdoc tries to destroy the moose with a couple of missiles, however the moose sneezes which redirects them back onto the “Geep.” This whole image makes this song ideal to play whenever I’m driving.

Track 12 is sung completely in Spanish by Ibrahim Ferrer, called "Latin Simone (¿Qué Pasa Contigo?)". The main premise is that 2-D is struggling being depressed and Ferrer’s singing is trying to cheer him up. Track 13 is “Starshine” which is a very low-key track. Then we come up to the penultimate track “Slow Country.” The music in the background is mostly the piano with a horn playing along side it. It’s even more toned down than “Starshine,” which is saying a lot. The premise of the song is someone who is struggling with a long-distance relationship. Finally, we wrap up the record with “M1 A1.” It begins with 2-D yelling from a distance “Hello? Is anyone there?” for the first minute or so. I’ve seen that the music featured during that period is from the movie “Day of the Dead.” The movie is a post-apocalyptic story with zombies. Honestly, when I go back and think about this record as a whole, it seems like the entire setting was post-apocalyptic zombie. After the “Hello? Is anyone there?” part is done, it begins to really kick into gear. This song is very much a rock song. It almost sounds like you’re listening to Blur. I think it’s a great way to end the record.

Their self-titled album would go on to become platinum in the US and triple platinum in the UK. Albarn and Hewlitt would continue to produce records as “Gorillaz.” They would continue to use a similar format in that they would bring in various artists for collaborations and several tracks. Some of the collaborators of note are Snoop Dogg, Elton John, Stevie Nicks, Dennis Hopper, Mos Def and Bad Bunny. Since the release of their third album “Plastic Beach” I’ve kept pretty close tabs on new music released from Albarn and Hewlitt’s virtual band. They would eventually be dubbed the “Greatest Virtual Band Ever.” Hewlitt would continue to modify new versions of the band members through his animation. The sketches of the band members as you see them from the self-titled era are much different than they are today. Recently “Gorillaz” celebrated their 25th anniversary as a band. The music videos would continue over time and they have a really awesome YouTube channel to just watch all of the wonderful art made by Albarn and Hewlitt. I hope that when you are old enough to start appreciating music that they are still making new music. Their most recent release, “The Mountain” is some of the best work I have heard in over a decade.

Love,

Dad

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