M83, “Junk”
The title of M83 s latest effort, Junk, feels like a provocation because it is.
It could be read as winking joke — a sign that Anthony Gonzalez isn t taking this too seriously. And while there are reasons to believe that s the case, Gonzalez has already made it clear what this is all about:
It s a statement, he told Pitchfork. This is how people listen to music nowadays: They re just gonna pick certain songs they like — one, two, if you re lucky — and trash the rest. All else becomes junk.
It s almost as if he s daring us to just ignore the whole thing. And you could.
Junk a corndog drenched in cheese. With its lo-fi sci-fi synths, sweeping 70s strings, sappy piano, splashes of RAM-era Daft Punk and, yes, sax solos, Junk blurs the line between kitschy sincerity and irony. M83 records have done this well in the past, and it works well enough on Laser Gun, Road Blaster and Walkaway Blues — songs that you can dance to, that use a lighter touch with the cheese and that feel fresh. Because while the ballads are in their own way just as playful, in theory, the novelty of a swooning, melancholy piano number wears off.
s music has always been described as cinematic, and this is no different, though much of it sounds made for TV rather than the big screen. (He s cited Punky Brewster and Who s the Boss? as inspiration, so that makes sense.) If anything, it s fun to imagine what wacky adventures and sentimental moments might be soundtracked by Junk s songs.
Do It, Try It is a triumphant dance scene — the kind in which the hero wins over the uptight grumps around him, steadily pulling every last one of them into the dance.
For the Kids could play over a daydreamy montage of a woman s fond and wistful memories.
Moon Crystal sounds like the end credit music for a campy sitcom about a family trying to make it work in their new lives on Venus.
Sunday Night 1987 ? Well, it sounds just like that if your Sunday nights in 87 were lonely bummers.
In that sense, Gonzalez achieved what he set out to do. The problem is that Junk often feels more like a copy than an original. The songs that work best feel like his own take on 80s camp, but most of it is just imitation. That s fun for a little while, but like old sitcom reruns, their appeal is limited.
