Does It Offend You, Yeah Review
You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into on Debut CD
Does It Offend You, Yeah mix rock, new wave and electronic dance music into an album that attempts to be everything at once.
Does It Offend You, Yeah prove that a good electronic band can also rock out. On their debut album You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into the quartet from Reading, England, mixes elements of both genres into each song. Without one clear avenue, the group becomes hard to classify, and at times the music also becomes muffled.
The band got their name at random after turning on the television and hearing Ricky Gervais from the British version of The Office mutter that sentence to a co-worker. While in context it sounds great, as a band name it’s not one easily remembered. Luckily the music is equally random but less forgettable.
Does Randomness Offend You, Yeah
The band’s planned randomness becomes apparent all over You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into. From the video game inspired opener “Battle Royale” that sounds a lot like Atari-based tracks from Crystal Castles (without the screaming) to pure 80’s inspired single-in-waiting “Dawn of the Dead”, the album plays like an ipod on shuffle.
While some songs sound mature and seasoned, others like “Let’s Make Out” sound juvenile and irrelevant. Even the darker Nine Inch Nails-inspired dark synths on the second half of “Let’s Make Out” sound contrived, like a last minute attempt to save it from the cutting room floor.
Does It Offend You, Yeah wear their influences on their sleeves on other cuts. Daft Punk may not have put out an album in a while, yet “Weird Science”, played out of context sounds cherry-picked from the French electronic band’s Discovery album.
Stand out tracks include heavy The Chemical Brothers-inspired “With a Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You)” and "We Are Rockstars” as well as “Doomed Now” starring a vocoder, as well as the strange 60’s monster movie themed “Attack of the 60ft Lesbian Octopus”.
They Had No Idea What They Were Getting Into
While the band proves its versatility, it fails to solidify an identity with this album. Each sound comes from another era or another band.
As a whole, You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into sounds like a compilation album featuring cuts from the best New Wave, Electronic and Rock fusion bands of the last 25 years.
While this masterfully crafted summer record comes off a little odd, like sampling a Chinese and Italian buffet at the same time, it deserves a few spins to blend all the tastes. A great debut from a promising group.
