Post-Nothing

For their debut, Vancouver-based indie duo Japandroids hit the ground running. POST-NOTHING is a warm flurry of fuzzy guitar, disjointed crashing drums, and childlike vocals yelled in unison by guitarist Brian King and drummer David Prowse. Seasons before the album was released, "Young Hearts Spark Fire" hit the blogosphere and earned the band enough praise to secure a spot on Polyvinyl. The buzz continued with quite a few comparisons to fellow lo-fi/ noise rockers No Age and Wavves. (Japanther is probably a closer comparison, due to their similar super-sized two-man sound and singing style, but then again, Japandroids aren't an easy band to categorize.) The lo-fi/noise rock tag is such a wide ranging term that it's a pretty loose fit. Behind the shoegazery overdrive, and underneath the punk rock thrashing, their songs are absolute pop. They're innocent, they're simple, and they're filled with blindingly good hooks. It's all slapped together with a superb sense of what works and what doesn't. With all the fat trimmed, of the eight songs there isn't a bad track, making it difficult to pin down a favorite, be it the sing-along "Wet Hair"and "Young Hearts Spark Fire," the nod to Thin Lizzy ("The Boys Are Leaving Town"), the brilliant bashing of "Heart Sweats," or the heartfelt sincerity of "Crazy/ Forever."