6A — Monday, September 12, 2016
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

By SAM ROSENBERG

Daily Arts Writer

If there’s anyone currently in 

pop culture with an idiosyncratic 
personality and perspective on 
life, it’s arguably 
Donald Glover. 
The 32-year-old 
wunderkind 
actor/rapper 
first 
rose 
to 

prominence on 
YouTube, 
and 

then as a young 
writer for NBC’s 
“30 
Rock” 

before scoring a 
role on the cult 
hit “Community.” But around 
2011, Glover began an unex-
pected route into the world of 
hip-hop, releasing a multitude of 
EPs and mixtapes under the Wu-
Tang generated moniker Childish 
Gambino. Though most critics 
didn’t initially take him seriously, 
Glover developed a loyal fanbase 
and thus continued to perform as 
Childish. He toured, released his 
second studio album Because the 
Internet in 2013 and his EP Kauai 
in 2014.

As he eventually cut ties with 

“Community” and his stand-up 
background, 
Glover 
gradually 

went from being known as the 
goofy Troy on “Community” to a 
serious, hard-working and occa-
sionally self-deprecating artist. 
Glover puts his knowledge of 
hip hop and comedy to good use, 
intersecting them beautifully and 
almost seamlessly as the writer, 
producer and star of the FX sit-
com “Atlanta.”

Blessed with an incredible 

cast, breathtaking visuals and 
authentic writing, the refreshing 
“Atlanta” achieves a rare balance 
between witty, deadpan humor 
and pathos that most comedies 
about success and the American 
Dream struggle to attain. Next to 
“Master of None,” “Atlanta” is the 

Goldilocks of socially conscious 
comedy: thought-provoking with-
out being didactic, eccentric but 
not alienating and intelligent with-
out trying to be high-brow.

Among the few exciting TV pro-

grams showcasing more diverse 
storytelling — “Master of None,” 
“The Get Down,” “The Carmi-
chael Show” and the upcoming 
“Insecure” — “Atlanta” is a huge 
standout, presenting the modern 
day Black experience with both 
hilarious and sobering results.

Glover leads as straight-man 

Earnest “Earn” Marks, a Princeton 
dropout struggling with a dead-
end job at the airport and a compli-
cated home situation with Vanessa 
(newcomer Zazie Beetz), his best 
friend and the mother of his infant 
daughter. But once he discovers 
his cousin Alfred (Brian Tyree 
Henry, “Boardwalk Empire”) is 
an up-and-coming rapper named 
Paper Boi, Earn sees an oppor-
tunity to manage him and make 
something out of his own life.

Plot-wise, “Atlanta” can seem 

like another conventional com-
ing-of-age story, and in a sense, 
it is deceptively simple. How-
ever, with Glover’s deft sensibili-
ties and keen observational eye, 
“Atlanta” spins the formula in a 
thoughtful and entertaining way, 
making us laugh in one scene and 
pensively reflect during another.

Directed by music video film-

maker Hiro Murai, “Atlanta” ’s 
first two episodes make the most 
out of developing the characters 
and story, even showing the city 
itself as a character. Murai adopts 
a visual style as unconventional 
and intriguing as “Mr. Robot” ’s, 
utilizing the city’s spacious exte-
rior with beautiful aerial shots 
and gorgeous wide shots and the 
interiors of city complexes with 
soft focus and intimate framing.

While the pilot, “The Big 

Bang,” spends most of its half-
hour setting up the story, as any 
first episode would, it quickly 

establishes each main character’s 
voice and personality, illustrated 
by the dynamic of Earn, Paper 
Boi and his soft-spoken assistant 
Darius (an excellent Keith Stan-
field, “Straight Outta Compton”). 
At first, Paper Boi is reluctant to 
bring Earn aboard his burgeon-
ing rap enterprise, believing that 
he’s only trying to manage him 
for the money. Both Earn’s per-
sistence and Paper Boi’s hesitance 
seem genuine, thanks to their 
witty banter and both Glover and 
Henry’s acting chops. However, 
once Earn gets Paper Boi’s song on 
the radio, they join forces. Things 
seem to turn for the better until 
a hostile encounter with a hater 
leads both Earn and Paper Boi to 
jail.

In the second episode, “Streets 

on Lock,” Earn and Paper Boi 
each experience the aftermath 
of that encounter to an equally 
gut-busting and terrifying effect. 
Uncomfortable with the early 
trappings of fame, Paper Boi 
attempts to divert his fans, but 
can’t seem to escape his notoriety. 
Simultaneously, while Earn waits 
in processing, he witnesses the 
mistreatment of the mentally ill, 
police brutality and transphobia 
in three blistering sequences. His 
awkwardness in these situations 
provide some much-needed levi-
ty, but these scenes will neverthe-
less render you speechless.

The beauty of “Atlanta” is that 

it never once feels like it’s try-
ing so hard to showcase why its 
observations on societal issues 
are important; it just does. The 
camera simply captures Earn, 
Paper Boi and Darius journey-
ing through mundane everyday 
situations in the trenches of the 
Georgian capital. To sum it up: 
“Atlanta” is definitely one of the 
best (if not the best) shows of the 
fall season and truly captures the 
peak of Donald Glover’s career as 
an artist and voice of our genera-
tion.

Peachy ‘Atlanta’

A

Atlanta

Series Pre-
miere (Two 
episodes 
watched)

FX

TV REVIEW
ALBUM REVIEW
Grouplove plays it 
safe on new Big Mess

By SHIMA SADAGHIYANI

Daily Arts Writer

“We’re back in business / 

you’re such a big mess / and I 
love you,” is how Grouplove’s 
new album, Big 
Mess, 
begins, 

and it’s these 
three lines that 
largely 
sum 

up the rest of 
the 
album: 

a 
very 
big, 

aimless 
mess 

that, 
though 

unrestricted 
in 
its 
guitar 

strums 
and 
happy-go-lucky 

vocals, you can’t help but love. 

Despite the overall chaos of 

Big Mess, the album starts off 
relatively organized. “Welcome 
to Your Life” is a flashy 
attention-grabber of an intro 
song, very reminiscent of 2011-
era Grouplove. Its hippie, feel-
good sound directly mimics 
old iconic Grouplove favorites 
like “Tongue Tied” and “Lovely 
Cup.” “Welcome to Your Life” is 
the perfect first song because it 
skillfully captures Grouplove’s 
entire appeal as a band: the 
promise that, no matter where 
you are (even if it’s dreary 
Michigan in mid-November), 
within the first few notes, 
you’re instantly transported to 
somewhere stress-free, with 
warm sand underneath your 
toes and the sun illuminating 
all the beauty this world has 
to offer. With this first track, 
Grouplove grabs your hand and 
says “welcome to our album; it 
can also be your life.”

Attention 
successfully 

captured, 
Grouplove 
wastes 

no time showcasing their best 
qualities through the songs 
“Do You Love Someone” and 

“Standing in The Sun.” Both 
of these tracks are mellower 
than 
“Welcome 
To 
Your 

Life,” yet both contain the 
same 
uninhibited 
quality. 

In every moment of these 
songs, Grouplove is holding 
nothing back; the background 
instruments 
clash 
together 

to produce a cacophony of 
sound that fits so perfectly 
with the simple, yet genuine 
vocals. 
Grouplove 
isn’t 

afraid to be cluttered, and 
in their imperfection comes 
authenticity. “Do You Love 
Someone” and “Standing in The 
Sun” are personable, optimistic 
and entirely pure in their 
pandemonium. 

Many of the songs in Big 

Mess, like “Good Morning” and 
“Cannonball,” hold these same 
qualities. In fact, looking at the 
individual songs in the album 
separately, Grouplove continues 
to put 110%, no holds barred, 
into each and every note. 

However, 
a 
problem 

materializes when viewing the 
album as a whole. Despite the 
vivacity of distinctive songs, 
there’s hardly any distinction in 
sound from one song to the next. 
Big Mess, overall, flatlines. 
While none of the songs are 
horrendous, they do all seem 
to blur into one giant clamor of 
California beach vibes and free 
spirit alt rock when listened 

to as a whole. For example, 
“Spinning,” when heard on its 
own, is a light song that’s easy 
and fun to listen to. The line, 
“Me, I can never stop my world 
from spinning” layers perfectly 
over the simple, optimistic 
jangle 
of 
the 
background 

music. However, when heard in 
succession with the extremely 
similar “Good Morning” and 
“Cannonball,” the song loses its 
charm and transforms into an 
indistinct mass. The songs in 
Big Mess are too homogenous, 
and thus the album loses the 
noteworthy characteristics that 
are apparent in its individual 
songs. 

“Enlighten 
Me” 
and 

“Traumatized” are the only two 
songs that show any variation 
from the rest of the album. 
“Enlighten Me” is darker and 
more melodramatic than any 
typical, upbeat Grouplove song, 
while “Traumatized” seems to 
draw influences from bands 
like Cage the Elephant and 
Pixies with its angry electric 
background and half-screaming 
vocals. These two songs are 
islands in the sea of monotony 
that is Big Mess and show where 
this album could’ve gone if 
Grouplove had experimented 
with their sound just a little 
more. 

Big Mess is a solid album 

with notable individual songs, 
but it’s very safe. Grouplove 
isn’t 
making 
any 
leaps 
or 

experiments, nor do they seem 
to want to. To take a stab at 
relevancy, whatever Grouplove 
produces next needs to take 
their sound up to the next 
level. But for now, unassuming, 
easygoing uniformity is the 
only thing to expect from Big 
Mess. 

B-

Big Mess

Grouplove

Atlantic Records

The problem 
is Big Mess, 

overall, flatlines.

