Review: Django Django's "Django Django"

That's a lot of "Django"s in a row in that title....



The very first time that I heard the Beta Band's "Dry the Rain," I was standing inside of a record store.  I asked the clerk who it was, he told me, and then I bought the album.  10 years since I bought it and 14 years since its original release later, I still believe that The Beta Band's The Three EPs compilation is their best album, and one of my all time favorites overall. 

I mention this only because of how the reaction I had to the song "Default" by Django Django the first time I heard it.  It's a song so perfect and lovable that I thought "I just need to hear more by these guys."  Yes, Django Django are very reminiscent of The Beta Band, sonically, in terms of how they craft music built from analog instruments and digital tomfoolery.  To further the coincidences between the two bands, one of Django Django's members is the brother of one The Beta Band - back when they were a band.  As tempting as it would be to just label Django Django as "Beta Band 2.0," there's more than enough originality here to separate the two.

Perhaps the biggest difference is that while the Beta Band mostly blended folk music with electronics, Django Django (let's just call them DD from here on out, okay?) opts for more lively sounds.  One of the most obvious of these sounds is surf rock, which can be heard as influence through-out the album - most obviously on "Life's a Beach."  The aforementioned "Default," meanwhile, blends robotic drums and warped vocal effects with the sounds of the 60's British Invasion.

"Hail Bop," a reference to both the comet and...something else...is such an enjoyable pop song in itself, taking its time to unwind after a minute of space effects and reverberating guitars.  Elsewhere, "Waveforms" and "Love's Dart" minimize things a little bit, letting the drum effects and the harmonious vocals do most of the heavy lifting.

Honestly, there's very little about this album that I'd disagree with.  Even the songs that don't immediately grab my attention, like "Storm" and the possibly too-long "Firewater" are still enjoyable in their own right.  The entire album honestly has a freshness to it that sets it apart from everything else that I've listened to recently.  At this moment I'd rate the album as an 8.5/10, but I would expect that in six months, if asked, I'd have an even higher score for it.  As much as I'm really enjoying the album now, everytime I listen to it, I'm still finding elements that I missed the first time or songs that suddenly click with me more than they had previously.

Highly recommended great debut.