Django Overload

London/Edinburgh rock four-piece Django Django released their funky, futuristic debut self-titled album after working on it for more than two years. The album heavily experiments with all kinds of sound, coming mostly from the brain of drummer/producer David Maclean.

While the album sounds psychedelic, it doesn’t delve too far into the weird. Each track still has a distinct beat and amidst all the sound, the songs are still light. “Zumm Zumm,” for example, features bass, keyboard, a cow bell and a lot of repetition (especially in the lyrics: “Got to get to know/Got to get to know/Got to get to know…”), which is all played with restraint so the song never completely explodes.

Guitarist Vincent Neff takes over in “WOR” and in “Life’s A Beach,” which both enter surf rock territory, and also in “Firewater” when he pulls out an acoustic. Lyrically, things are often vague and spacey and hint at some type of departure or break-up. Take “Hail Bop” for instance: “Hail to the bop believe me/Take your time to come back and see me/I’ve been waiting here so long and now you’ve taken off again.” And the last track “Silver Rays” speaks of similar sentiments: “Silver rays ricochet/And dance across the golden floor/Silver rays you can stay/And let me drift away from shore.”

Maclean’s work has granted his band a nomination for a 2012 Mercury Award. It’s hard to argue that Django Django isn’t exciting and refreshing, which is always good news for an album, especially for a debut. It is highly likely you will be intrigued.