Beck - Modern Guilt

Beck, the most outlandish and flamboyant folk singer you'll ever hear, has always excited me. He basically goes around making the music he wants, turning anything he can find into an instrument. I got even more excited after learning that Danger Mouse was at the helm, producing his next release, Modern Guilt. So it saddens me to have to say that this release is just alright. Much like Jesus.

Modern Guilt finds Beck and Dangermouse striving for a stripped-down, '60s rock sound, and for all intents and purposes, succeeded. Beck has also done his job, going above and beyond with the idea, making it completely his own. A few of the songs really hit that '60s feel that I think they were going for, like Gamma Ray, which makes me wanna do the Monkey, which should be called the Human, if that old 'Monkey see, monkey do" rule holds true, but that's another story.

Chemtrails walks a thin line between wispy, high-flying cloud-like sections and thundering drums, while the titular (I just like saying that word) track, Modern Guilt, feels like a pop song for the clinically depressed, bouncy in a shoegazer sorta way. Youthless is the only song here that I can truly say feels like a Beck song, with off-beat beats, an intriguing guitar/bass combo, strange lyrics, and a memorable vocal melody, an element which this record is almost universally lacking. Thankfully, Replica harkens back to songs like "Get Real Paid," eventually reaching an angelic climax of strings, voices, and drums.

The lyrics on this album ping-pong back and forth from personal to playful, but are Beck quality. I particularly like the line "We do the best with the souls we've been given," from Walls, which is an attempt to change people's minds about bombs. Perhaps he explained the thought-process behind this album in the lyric "'I'm tired of people who only want to be pleased...well I still wanna please you.'

Danger Mouse and Beck have done a respectable job tackling a decade of sound on Modern Guilt. Retro and full of reverb, it may not be Beck's best album, but it's certainly better than The Information. This album is full of disparities -- boring but exciting, sloppy yet controlled, dark and soft but revealing and intense. I don't expect this album to be in heavy rotation besides a few of the songs, but for some reason that strikes me as okay. Also, I feel like I'm being a little harsh on Modern Guilt because I have such high expectations of Beck. All of these factors lead me to give Modern Guilt a five. In the meantime, I'll still be waiting here, hoping for a Midnite Vultures 2.

5/7