Live Review: ALBUM REVIEW: Darwin Deez 'Songs For Imaginative People'

After having his name plastered on almost every music site in the world for his catchy hit track ‘Radar Detector’ in 2009, Brooklyn songman DARWIN DEEZ pretty much dropped off the map. The man who had gotten his cute lyrics stuck in our heads for countless hours, disappeared just as quickly as he had popped in.

But now Darwin Deez has broken his silence and released his new LP Songs For Imaginative People. After the success of ‘Radar Detector’, fans may have some pretty high expectations of Darwin Deez’s new LP, but never fear, Songs For Imaginative People is Darwin Deez as you know him and love him, with a few extra bits thrown in.

'(800) HUMAN'

This track begins with some pretty heavy electronic samples, which were absent on Darwin Deez’s last offering, and are soon joined by a crunchy guitar that has the bite of a crazy dog with rabies (in a good way). Deez’s vocals then come in and sound a lot lighter than the music, making you relax knowing that Darwin Deez isn’t ripping your head off through music.

He sings his chorus, “what it’s like to be human,” happily, and the lyrics describe a typical thought inside the mind of a typical human. It also tries to describe a human in a general sense, what we think about, what we dream about it’s actually very intriguing. Darwin Deez is most definitely a talented songwriter, and that’s been shown through both ‘Radar Detector’ and this new track. Deez is a modern day storyteller, and that makes him a hell of a good musician.

'GOOD TO LOSE'

‘Good To Lose’ is Darwin Deez as his quirky self. The track has a sound not that different from ‘Radar Detector’ with cute lyrics like, “I’ve got a hot date with a lawn gnome,” and enough twangy guitars to fill the song fully, ‘Good To Lose’ is a guitar driven track, with the quirky songwriting that I said was so fantastic.

This is a track that is definitely meant for dancing, the sound is uplifting, and just so energetic that you can’t help but get off the couch and shake what your mumma gave you! ‘Good To Lose’ is fun, and although it only goes for three minutes, it’s still that hot injection of happiness that you need after a crappy day of life. Learn all the whacky lyrics, and soon you’ll be singing along to the strange story that Deez tells.

'ALL IN THE WRIST'

Another synth opener here, but with a bit of a Crystal Castles feel. Obviously Darwin Deez is a lot quirkier that the electronic duo, but the synths do sound similar, but the droopy guitars bring the mood of the song up a lot higher than what a Crystal Castles song would. It’s Darwin Deez remember, he’s like sunshine! ‘All In The Wrist’ may have a bit of a suggestive title, but the groove of the track is relaxing and calm, and although this sentence is still sounding seedy, the opening lyric, “ wipe the knife and slice through another new head of iceberg,” will most definitely change that.

The lyrics tend to tell a story of monotonous boredom, and people who have trouble understanding the ways of the world. Deez tells us that all it takes to change something, is to do some “homework”, and that its so easy and ‘All In The Wrist’. If only it was that easy Deez-y.

'MOONLIT'

Feel the grooves of the eighties as ‘Moonlit’ begins upon your ears! Twangy guitars are here again, but they only induce the eighties era on the track. A cow bell dings and dongs in the background of the track behind Darwin Deez and his crazy music. The guitars get a little frisky in this track doing their own little tricks during ‘Moonlit’ but as Deez sings, “I’m used to it,” you listen to the track and by halfway through you’ve gone from laughing at the essence of years gone, to enjoying the nostalgic melodies, heavy beat and rad guitar solo that slides on in about two minutes in.

Samples from anywhere and everywhere seem to work in sync on ‘Moonlit’ and although it may sound scattered and you feel like you should be underneath a disco ball, yet again Darwin Deez has produced a track worthy of crazy dancing.

'CHELSEA’S HOTEL'

Darwin Deez opens the closing track of Songs For Imaginative People with his own voice echoing like a ghost in an empty house. The beat of this track is a lot slower than that of ‘Moonlit’ and various other tracks on the LP, however it works because it’s the end, and we all need to have a break sometime right? Twangy guitars are used again, which proves that Deez is a fan of the twang, and it seems to work for him so who’s arguing? Plus they also have a slight crunch so it’s still a unique sound for the track. Drum sticks count in out of the quiet breaks that seem to pop in ‘Chelsea’s Hotel’ every now and again.

Deez echoes through these breaks with only a synth behind him and a soft guitar being picked in the most beautiful way, until the song gets back to its energetic section. Songs For Imaginative People uses a lot more synths than Darwin Deez’s previous work, but it’s still the same quirky yank that we’ve come to know and love and so Deez, has still delivered the goods.

Words by Lauren Payne.

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