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Monday, October 25, 2010 - 7A

Guster just too sweet

By EMMA GASE nal: angelic harmonies, an upbeat,
Daily Arts Writer sickeningly catchy melody and a
power hook that makes this song
Happiness is certainly a virtu- the best on the entire record. On
ous sentiment, but in music there the chorus, which consists of only
is a fine line between tasteful mea- "Ooh oohs," lead singer Adam
sured positivity Gardner's falsetto shines, and his
(The Jackson lyrics capture an innocent, childish
5) and child- nostalgia that few bands can pull
ish, in-your- Guster off without sounding cheesy. Since
face giddiness Guster lacks even a remote shred of
(The Wiggles). Easy Wonderful a dark side, it can produce this level
Guster's new Universal Republic of perk sincerely.
album, Easy Lead single "Do You Love Me"
Wonderful, cer- is another grin of a song, with a
tainly straddles that line (c'mon, rollicking melody and Santa Claus
just look at the name). While the bells chiming in to bookend each
Boston-based band's jolly demean- chorus. It's not difficult to pic-
or can be uplifting and at times ture the entire band recording
endearing, this attitude doesn't this while simultaneously bopping
save the new record from the bla- their heads in unison to the beat
tant conventionality of Guster's and beaming so widely that their
sound. Risks are few and far molars are visible (kind of like
between, and are executed so awk- those singing animatronic animals
wardly that it's a relief when the at Chuck E. Cheese). The cuteness
band sticks to sing-along harmo- becomes too much to endure when
nies and acoustic guitars. Gardner sings dainty "Doo doo
Album opener "Architects & doos" after askingrepeatedly in his
Engineers" brings out the few helium-tinted falsetto "Do ya love
strengths Guster keeps in its arse- me?"

There is something to say about
Guster's refreshing unpretentious
quality. These guys aren't putting
on any airs of superiorityor hinting
at a dark underbelly of meaningful
despair like so many of their for-
lorn martyred peers; Guster prob-
ably wouldn't recognize moody if
it came dancing interpretively into
Latest sugary
album might
give you a
stomachache.
their studio naked. Easy Wonder-
ful is a little too sunny of a glimpse
into the happy-go-lucky utopia
in which the band permanently
resides.
All this cheeriness makes Easy
Wonderful grating after a while.
There is such thing as too much
See DUSTER Pace 8A

I wish I could read."
Allen's 'Stranger'
is sadly familiar

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The veteran swimmingly, following an artsy
upper-crust British family, twist-
Immaker keeps ing and turning relationships with
the ease of a French silk scarf.
is waiting for his Crowded with almost as many
.s e stars as "Valentine's Day," the film
:IXt masterpiece is better introduced by the actors'
names rather than by the confu-
ByJENNIFERXU sion of their characters' - Naomi
DailyArts Writer Watts, Josh Brolin ("Milk") as her
failed-author husband, Antonio
hing draws in hordes of old Banderas ("Shrek") as her sexy
like a new Woody Allen art gallery boss, Gemma Jones
The audience is largely ("Bridget Jones's Diary") and
sed of Anthony Hopkins ("Beowulf")
ame peo- as her recently divorced parents
ery time, trying to stave off their inevitable
who decay into old age, Lucy Punch
earned to YOU Will ("Hot Fuzz") as Hopkins's new
iize the Meet a wife and Freida Pinto ("Slum-
il con- Tall Dark dog Millionaire") as the alluring
- the young neighbor.
score Stranger To any newcomer, the mlange
ying theA . of star power might seem a bit
screened At Michigan overwhelming, but Woody has
ig cred always been good with ensemble
his time, Sony casts, and "Stranger" is no excep-
Redbone's tion. And, at least for the first few
n You moments, the director seems back
Upon a Star"); the curly in his prime, comfortably weaving
eadlining always-producer through his well worn topics of
Aronson ("his sister," the discontent, neuroses and nebbish
n sitting in the third row insecurity with relative success.
ers to her husband); the Feelings of cosmic insignifi-
y, peachy hues recalling a cance in the universe? Check.
nd place that never existed; The rise and fall of marriage? The
n recent years, the annoy- tragedy of the conflicted writer?
iceover narration opening The supernatural as farce? Check,
st scene that introduces the check, check. Granted, the chem-
protagonista, Sally (Naomi istry between the lovers is kind of
"King Kong"). lacking, and the fights aren't very
n's latest, "You Will Meet tense, but you know, all that is for-
Dark Stranger," starts off givable - it's a light enough movie

to get by.
Then it ends. Seriously, it just
ends. And what's more, this is the
gem "Stranger" chooses to close
off with: "Sometimes, the illusion
is better than the medicine." What
is that even supposed to mean?
Never in the history of movie-
making has an ending been so
sublimely ill-placed. Was Woody
simply too lazy to come up with a
proper third act for his latest film?
Or, gasp, was he not capable of
thinking of one?
Had it come from any other
modern director, the film's spar-
kling high points would certainly
have overridden any negativity
derived from the ending. Yet from
Woody, it's a certifiable flop.
Sure, we get a few laughs, a
few fresh faces (Lucy Punch is
particularly promising as the
prostitute-turned-diamond-
swathed-trophy-wife of Hopkins,
recalling the fervor and grace of a
young, dizzy Mira Sorvino), some
faithful droplets of neuroticism
twisted into the central plot - all
that stuff we've come to expect
from every Woody Allen film
since 1977.
Yet the thing that's lacking in
"Stranger"- that's been lacking in
every film since "Sweet and Low-
down" - is the brief leak of emo-
tions, the chill of realization that's
the heart and soul of all Woody
classics: Allen's pregnant pause
in "Annie Hall" before he mourns
"Annie and I broke up;" the "What
makes life worth living?" speech
See STRANGER, Page 8A

Guster had trouble thinking of Halloween costumes this year.

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SENIOR PORTRAIT
TAKEN
Monday 10/25 - Friday 10/29
in the Sophia B. Jones room
of the Michigan Union

Sex and ninjas on'$O$'

By SHARON JACOBS
Assistant Art Editor
It defies reason that South Afri-
can rave-rap sensation Die Ant-
woord should
write enjoyable
music. But for
all the gross Die Antwoord
feelings that$
will creep up
on listeners Cherrytree
after hearing
the group's re-
released debut $0$ (available in
modified online form since 2009),
the albumis actually kind of catchy
and unforgettable - at least for the
insuppressible dirty newness of its
sound.
Thematically, Die Antwoord
celebrates the same cultural
wasteland as Ke$ha - albeit mul-
tilingually, with a heavy accent
and all references to glitter and
whiskey replaced by straight-up
sex talk. It's a march of vulgarity
only occasionally interrupted by a
curse-covered dis, boast or gleeful
yell of "I'm a ninja!"
The trio's lyrics - mostly deliv-
ered by frontman "Ninja" (real
name Watkin Tudor Jones) in
a casual, over-enunciated Emi-
nem style - would make any self-
respecting prescription-drugged
misogynist blush. There are the
Veiled sexual references, like
"Even though you lying down / a
can make you stand dp" in "Evil
Boy," and then there's the wide-
open raunch of "Beat Boy," with
lines about gushing privates, hos-
pital room BDSM and intersex

conditions not suitable for repeti-
tion in any publication.
When toned down a bit, the
grime parade works - blunt, brash
opener "In Your Face" stomps in
with a killer beat and a badass
monophonic chorus of "Jealousy
makes you nah-sty / In your facet"
It's a headfirst dive into Ninja's and

sometime-singer Yolandi's thick
South African speech, in which
nearly every "fuck" comes out a
"fook."
"Enter The Ninja" follows up
withworldsofvideogamereferenc-
es and a handful of Japanese cul-
tural throwouts. Yolandi squeaks,
See ANTWOORD, Page 8A

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