Don't you love it when you buy an album and you're able to listen to it from start to finish? This is a rare occurrence. I'll usually love one or two tracks, and maybe another two or three tracks are likeable. Then a handful are awful. And the rest are just decent.
It's been at least a decade since the last time this happened to me. I'm trying to think of the last album I loved so much I could play it all the way through without skipping... and I can't even think of one.
So I got a hold of the new The Whitest Boy Alive album, Rules, this week. I've heard a few tracks off their debut album, Dreams, a couple of years ago, and I thought they were catchy, funky and upbeat. If you've heard of Erlend Øye, he's the singer and guitarist for The Whitest Boy Alive. Øye is also part of the group The Kings of Convenience, and he collaborates often with Röyksopp, who I'm sure you've heard of by now. Remember that GEICO commercial with the cavemen, and the song "Remind Me" is playing in the background? That's Röyksopp and Erlend Øye. Out of all his collaborations and side projects, The Whitest Boy Alive is my favorite.
I pressed play and let the album go on without touching a thing. And I didn't want to. Each and every song had me grooving. Some were very chill, some were bass heavy, some were more electro. But I truly feel like these guys took all the elements I love most about music and put them all together on this album. I can't even pinpoint one song that I want to call my favorite. As soon as I think I've narrowed it down to one, I hear another track and change my mind.
Also, Erlend Øye's lyrics are extremely meaningful; he tells a story in each track. Once his story is complete, the band goes insane and the instrumental breaks continue. I like some bands because of their lyrics, and I like other bands because of their beats. But The Whitest Boy Alive has perfected the art of integrating the two together without clashing and struggling with one another. The most intense track may be "Gravity" where Øye talks about his lover and his friend hooking up behind his back. Ouch!
I couldn't decide which tracks I wanted to share, so I threw on quite a few for you below.
The Whitest Boy Alive - Dead End
"Don't turn around, keep going
If I do look back, I'll never get over you."
The Whitest Boy Alive - Promise Less Or Do More
"Luck is a gift, but rarely only a random thing
It's not enough to sit down and wait for a phone to ring."
The Whitest Boy Alive - Gravity
"It's all fun and games until
Somebody sees what they should not see
The innocence is killed."
The Whitest Boy Alive - High on the Heels
"You only need to be more certain what it is you're living for.
Climbing the hill of pursuing the front runner's tail
Lower the bar to a point you can't possibly fail."
The Whitest Boy Alive - 1517
"Hey, you, we just got started,
You can't end this now.
You've payed your dues, you're free,
Of what are you afraid?"
