Rigidly strummed guitars and fuzzed-out vocals and dry observations about scene-life-it all screams Max’s and Warhol wannabes, no? Well, yes, except that these guys are from the O.C., perhaps the most spiritually distant location from a Bowery den within the continental United States.
The band’s self-titled debut doesn’t do much to prove that they’re much more than Strokes fans in surf shorts. Opener “Single Fins & Safety Pins” sums up the contradictory ethos pretty neatly, as lead singer (and pro surfer) Alex Knost sings “So come on down to the beach where the sun will shine, / Kick your shoes off, enjoy some wine,” over a chorus of slacking “Oooh-Aaahs” and garage-band guitars. The band keeps it enjoyable enough, in its deliberately dunce-capped, Dictators-kinda vibe, but still the song overstays its welcome.
There are a few moments, such as on the the aforementioned opener, the punchy “Coors Light,” or the happy-go-lucky “Spendin’ Days” that achieve the youthful buoyancy for which Japanese Motors strive. But the big moments wash over you like so much jetsam flopping along the coast.
In the end, Japanese Motors are just a band low on ideas and spark, high on obligatory scenester shout-outs (“Better Trends”) and cliché chord progressions (“Misery & Profits”). Far too many groups have done and continue to do the post-Lou Reed/New York thing to let a band without big hooks or big enthusiasm or even a single decent anthem get by on pity points. Dust off that one Kings of Leon single that was good instead.
– Joel Cusumano
Japanese Motors: www.myspace.com/thejapanesemotors
Vice Records: www.vicerecords.com