Re: Andrew W.K.

Mr. Wilkes-Krier, I must applaud you. Reaching my teens at the height of your popularity, I heard much of your blasting, keyboard-driven party anthems. I always dug "Ready to Die", probably because it was used with brilliant irony in the trailer for Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. Aside from that, I never really got you. Sure, you had high energy live performances and an affable demeanor, but the music never clicked.

So when I heard about your latest albums, 55 Cadillac and Gundam Rock, I was skeptical to say the least. The prospects of the man behind "Party Party Party" doing both new-age piano improv and covers of classic J-disco cheese were baffling to me, until I heard them both. Mr. Wilkes-Krier, you have my sincerest apologies for ever doubting you.

First thing's first, you are a goddamn excellent pianist. One of the few things that ever struck me about your early efforts was how deeply keyboard-driven it was, for a big dumb rocker you really made those ivory keys fucking sing. The improv work you do is masterful and manages to capture many different moods, with some excellent classical stylings and a real nice jazzy edge. The sparseness of "Car Nightmare", the ambient sounds in "Starting the Engine", the subtle guitar on the closer, "Cadillac", it was so difficult to process the first time I heard it. My expectations had been crushed and I was hit with something much better than I could have ever imagined. These tracks are the kind I hear and lament the fact I cannot play piano for shit.

But then I hit Gundam Rock and for a second I was kinda iffy, "Fly, Gundam" felt a bit too different from Koh Ikeda's original (a stupid, nitpicky complaint, but I'm not the biggest fan of covers and a huge elitist weeaboo) and it was turning me off the disc, but then I realized it's unfair and stupid to dismiss an entire album based solely on a single track. I heard "Soldiers of Sorrow" at a friend's house not long after and my interest in the disc came flooding back. I've always loved the song's ability to contrast bleak lyrics with a fist-pumping, sing-along-worthy melody and you nail that better than any other cover of the song I have heard. The vocal harmonies and piano are unbelievable earworms and it's hard to listen to that track just once. The rest of the disc has a real consistency of likable rock silliness ("Here Comes Char" sounds more delightfully cheesy than ever, and "Star Children" rocks so hard it's not even funny), but then I hit the back to back fuckwin combo of "Encounter" and "Amuro Forever" (two of the most memorable songs in the history of the franchise) and just when I thought nothing could surprise me, my jaw is on the floor by the end.

Two of the most ludicrously dated, but lovable, tracks in the history of Japanese pop get a delicious hard rock modernization without losing what made them so awesome to begin with. The harmonizing and fingersnaps in the first verse of "Encounter" were one hell of a "dear God, yesssss" moment and then I hit the Engrish chorus faithfully kept from the original and the guitars just explode into that magically kind of ridiculous that beg to be strummed along to with air virtuoso enthusiasm. "Amuro Forever" is even more of a goddamn shocker since the original (another Ikeda track) does not rock at all, and it's turned into a toe-tapper with excellent riffs that wouldn't be out of place on 80s MTV. I actually very nearly shouted "FUCK YES" out loud the first time I heard the chorus, and I've listened to that track so many times that it's almost become part of my daily routine. When I heard you were going to perform this shit live, I immediately hit up your upcoming concert schedules and was pissed to find I'd have no chance to get to any of them, but I swear, one day I will. Also, extra nerd points for recording Gihren Zabi's eulogy for his brother Garma with scenery-chewing luster.

God, I now feel so shitty for all the times I've said you sucked and were just another generic rocker, sir. Even looking back (hindsight being 20/20 sure is a bitch) I've realized you always had an excellent sense of pop song craft and know how to make good party songs, I guess I was just too caught up in all my stupid "HURF METAL IS THE BEST" elitism to appreciate it. As a musician, a music lover, and a big Gundam fan, I have such immense respect for you, my weeaboo pianist brother, never stop being awesome.