Beck
Guero
(Interscope)

Beck Hansen's new album Guero is being hailed as a return to the Odelay sound, but that's selling it short. Guero is more like Ween's White Pepper,The Flaming Lips' Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, and to a lesser extent, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Californication - that is to say that after years of coasting on image, attitude and strange sound combinations, Beck et al decided to grow up. From what I can figure, growing up involves overdosing on Pet Sounds, Revolver and Paul McCartney's Ram, then finding that the best thing to do is jam as much melody and songwriting into the most polished, radio-friendly little pop songs one can muster. Which is kind of what would happen were you to throw Odelay, Midnite Vultures and Sea Change in a blender, keeping only the catchiest choruses.

The Dust Brothers return to put their trademark incongruity on Beck's country-funk musings about death, rental cars, and a gringo lost in Tijuana. "Que Onda Guero" (pronounced "kay undawearo") asks the "white boy" protagonist where he's going, along with some good-natured ribbing about mullets and Yanni cassettes. Much of the rest of the lyrics, aside from the standard-issue nonsense lyrics of the throwaway "Hell Yes," deal with death and its various forms. The radio-friendly stalker anthem "Girl" rhymes "steal her eye" with "make her die," and "Farewell Ride" is a modern Johnny Cash dirge about a horsedrawn funeral procession from the body's perspective, complete with spurs jangling on the beat. There isn't too much as dumb as "you make a garbageman scream" from Midnite Vultures' "Peaches and Cream," but the lyrics are still Beck-ey enough.

Guero's clever, bluesy melodies make Odelay sound primitive, and the whole thing is soaked in vocal harmony and handclaps. The samples are kept to a minimum and the production is sparse but not lo-fi. Some of the songs sound similar up front, but the choruses - even the ones without actual words - are always worth coming back to. If you've liked any of Beck's albums in the past, or liked any song you might hear off the record and are looking for more, Guero is going to blow you away.

-Mario


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