The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, September 14, 2016 — 5A

Despite flaws, ‘Jane’ 
brings laughs to MTV

By MEGAN MITCHELL

Daily Arts Writer

It sparks little surprise that 

MTV’s 
newest 
weed-infused 

comedy series is by executive pro-
ducer 
Snoop 

Dogg. “Mary + 
Jane” revolves 
around 
the 

concepts 
embodied 
by 

both the rap-
per 
and 
the 

front of MTV 
alike, “Mary + 
Jane” running 
on 
a 
“main-

streamed” focus and relying on 
millennials to identify with the 
life that the series’ protagonists 
live on a daily basis. The only 
problem with this concept is 
that, as a viewer, the line tends to 
become blurred between genuine 
and satirical humor. It’s almost 
impossible to tell the difference 
between serious points of parody 
and humorously placed ideas. 
Though one character’s t-shirt 
reading “Some band you’ve never 
heard of” accurately satirizes the 
hipster movement, an L.A. restau-
rant that only serves dry toast à 
la carte for $15 feels overbearing 
and doesn’t blend well into the 
grand scheme of the show. It is 
pretty funny, though.

The premise of the show is sim-

ple. Roommates and best friends 
Paige (Jessica Rothe, “Next Time 

on Lonny”) and Jordan (Scout 
Durwood, “The List”) are on 
a mission to top the marijuana 
industry of East L.A., aiming at 
reaching drug-dealer stardom as 
one of the top 15 dealers of the 
region. To do so, they cater to cli-
ents via their weed business, con-
veniently titled “Mary + Jane,” 
which is slowly drawing more 
attention from celebrity icons 
and competition alike. At the very 
least, the series shows promise 
in setting long-term goals and an 
active running plot to keep the 
show interesting over mindless 
gigs. However, it’s unfortunate 
that high-reaching goals are the 
only things that seem to matter 
in the series besides Paige and 
Jordan 
themselves. 
Although 

romantic interests are few and far 
between — for Paige at least, as 
Jordan is constantly ravaged by 
lust — the romantics that ensue 
are far from intimate in the series. 
Besides the leading ladies, nobody 
else seems to matter, given their 
small and fleeting roles in the 
pilot. In any other case, this would 
seem refreshing and agreeable to 
the series’s intent of skimming the 
norms of society. But in “Mary + 
Jane,” it stands out more as a flaw 
in character development than 
a cry against the mainstream. 
If the writers wish to introduce 
substantial supporting charac-
ters other than Paige and Jordan, 
they should really consider doing 
so now, before the series lives too 

much up to its name.

Despite the many flaws that 

plague this drug-induced sit-
com (one has to wonder how 
that table read went...), there are 
redeemable qualities to be found 
in “Mary + Jane.” The greatest 
example appears as a long-run-
ning joke — that Jordan’s “Legally 
Blonde”-esque chihuahua is inti-
mately interested in Paige. The 
puppy’s insatiable lust is humor-
ously expressed throughout the 
show by stints that involve not-
so-edible underwear and sexual 
subtitles that stand out brazenly 
to viewers. Another talking point 
comes from a covert ops celeb-
rity delivery involving high-tech 
security and the probable forced 
slavery of performers to spoiled 
children. After taking too much of 
her own product, Jordan delivers 
the not-so-prescription weed to 
the couple, who are unidentified 
in her drug-induced haze, and 
perceived as a skeleton and a raw 
chicken. However, despite these 
strange and silly antics, the lack 
of close interpersonal relation-
ships in the series paints a picture 
of detachment, and not in a way 
that’s in best interests of the show. 
Perhaps it’s because the series 
runs on a time limit of twenty-odd 
minutes as a sitcom, but if Jordan 
and Paige don’t begin making 
friends soon, then “Mary + Jane” 
might not make it past the whole 
casual, 
scroll-through 
watch 

phase.

MTV

Which one is Becky with the good hair?

TV REVIEW

B-

Mary + 
Jane

Season 1 Premiere 

Mondays at 

10 p.m.

MTV

‘Signs’ is a solid 
indie-pop record

WARNER BROS MUSIC

Queen with her daddies.

ALBUM REVIEW

By SEAN LANG

For the Daily

On their third studio album 

(and first for Warner Bros. 
Records), Seattle-based indie rock 
band The Head 
and the Heart 
continue 
to 

deliver reliably 
catchy, 
sing-

able melodies. 
Though clearly 
a creation of 
the same band 
that gave us 
2011’s The Head 
and the Heart 
and 
2013’s 

Let’s Be Still, Signs of Light takes 
more cues from pop rock than the 
garage-band brand of indie Amer-
icana that defined their debut. 
More often, electric guitar — a 
new introduction to TH&TH’s 
instrumentation — takes the lead 
rather than the violin (or any 
other instrument, for that mat-
ter, aside from frontman Jona-
than Russell’s voice). Whether 
it’s directly a result of the electric 
guitar or more representative of 
a shift in songwriting mentality, 
the band presents a more filled-
out sound here than on previous 
albums, growing in tandem with 
their audience.

Signs of Light opens with 

crowd-rising anthem “All We 
Ever Knew,” probably the most 
successful song as well as the rare 
track in which the violin takes 
a prominent role in carving out 
the melody. The chorus — for the 
most part, a catchy but meaning-
less “la la la” — opens with the 

line “All we ever do is all we ever 
knew.” While in the context of the 
song, this references the cyclical 
or recurrent nature of relation-
ship woes, it also seems well-
suited as an introduction to the 
album as a whole. It’s pleasant to 
listen to, with some sonic tweaks, 
but thematically, The Head and 
the Heart are rehashing familiar 
territory.

Most songs deal with an ambig-

uous sort of love or loss (or some-
times both), hinging largely on 
clichés — particularly ironic given 
the lyric, “ ’Cause I’m looking for 
the truth / Not some tired cheap 
cliché,” in “False Alarm.” Day-
to-day mundanity, nostalgia and 
wounds healed only by the pass-
ing of time are all common themes 
throughout the album. TH&TH 
also appear to have found a more-
than-casual interest in dreams 
and sleep, with lyrics referring 
to one or both appearing in seven 
of the 13 songs on the album, and 
even one song titled “Dreamer.” 
It’s difficult to decipher what 
exactly inspired this theme, or 
whether it was an intentional or 
a subconscious inclusion. Perhaps 
it’s in some way tied to the band’s 
lengthy separation between Let’s 
Be Still and this release, or per-
haps it’s, even better, just coin-
cidence. In any event, food for 
thought.

While Signs of Light boasts a 

greater range of instrumentation 
than all of their previous material, 
as well as a more confident (and 
rightly so) falsetto out of Russell, 
there is a striking lack of Charity 
Rose Thielen’s voice. Though she 
does back a range of tracks, her 

only solo verse comes in the mid-
dle of “Colors.” Whatever the rea-
son for her lack of vocal feature 
on the album, the absence of her 
effervescent, delicately wavering 
voice leaves a noticeable void.

Trading much of their indie 

charm in exchange for wider 
appeal, the sound of Signs of Light 
is a surprisingly accurate reflec-
tion of TH&TH’s move to Warner 
Bros. Records. For the vast major-
ity of longtime fans, this album is 
sure to delight, but many will also 
lament the days when “Rivers and 
Roads” was a thorough represen-
tation of the band’s sound. There 
are valuable moments here, to be 
sure; “All We Ever Knew” is a clin-
ic on earworm melodies (sporting 
about four distinct tunes itself), 
and the back-to-back “Oh My 
Dear” and “I Don’t Mind” present 
some of the strongest songwriting 
on the album and provide some of 
the only moments where it sounds 
like the band is actually challeng-
ing themselves sonically.

It’s not that there’s anything 

wrong with the album, per se, 
there’s just nothing new or par-
ticularly compelling about it. It 
seems that the only factor differ-
entiating TH&TH from other alt-
indie-pop-rock-folk bands, at this 
point, is Russell’s and Thielen’s 
voices. Ultimately, Signs of Light 
makes for a thoroughly pleasant 
listening experience. Unfortu-
nately, even after multiple lis-
tens, the album fails to reveal any 
meaning deeper than what is indi-
cated on the surface, and there 
aren’t many truly innovative, 
exciting moments, with fewer still 
challenging ones. 

B-

Signs of 
Light

The Head and 

the Heart

Warner Bros. 

Music

ALBUM REVIEW

New DeGraw album 
is not ‘Worth Saving’

RCA RECORDS

Just like your fedora-slingin’ boy next door.

By DANIELLE IMMERMAN

Daily Arts Writer

The other night I malicious-

ly subjected my roommates to 
Gavin DeGraw’s latest album, 
Something 
Worth Saving.

Don’t 
get 

me wrong — I 
love Gavin, I 
could listen to 
One Tree Hill’s 
theme song, “I 
Don’t Want To 
Be,” on a loop 
for the rest of 
my life and I 
would 
prob-

ably belt the chorus every time. 
However, Something Worth Sav-
ing is somewhat of a departure 
from OG Gavin. This Gavin is 
more upbeat, less angsty and a lot 
more bubbly.

When the first track started 

rolling, I thought Adam Levine 

was serenading me with another 
one of Maroon 5’s corny pop bal-
lads. But that annoyingly happy 
and upbeat sound pouring out of 
the speakers was none other than 
Gavin DeGraw making the best 
out of a bad situation.

For those of you who know of 

Gavin DeGraw, good for you. But 
I would be willing to bet that a lot 
of people don’t know of him or, 
at the very least, couldn’t name a 
song other than “I Don’t Want To 
Be.” So in an attempt to remain 
somewhat relevant, Gavin put 
out the ten-track, juvenile Some-
thing Worth Saving.

It’s not that the album is hor-

rendously, 
unbearably 
awful, 

it’s just an immature effort for a 
seemingly experienced musician 
whose last album came out three 
years ago.

Despite the album’s overall 

mediocracy, there were some 
tiny peaks — albeit, only notice-
able with the aid of a magnifying 

glass — throughout, such as “Kite 
Like Girl.”

“Kite Like Girl” is actually 

quite catchy and I jammed to it 
like a little girl. With an upbeat 
tempo and a peppy Maroon 5 
meets John Mayer chorus, it’s by 
far the most stylistically distinct 
track on the album.

Another 
peak 
would 
be 

“Something Worth Saving,” for 
the sole reason that it actually 
made me realize that I’m sin-
gle. It’s sad, melodic and maybe 
even a little bit beautiful. The 
Ron Pope-esque, “I’m-weaping-
over-my-guitar” sound carries 
throughout, making “Something 
Worth Saving” the ideal song to 
eat an entire pint of Halo Top 240 
cal. ice cream to (I know, God 
really does exist). 

These two songs, though, are 

it. The remaining eight tracks 
are unremarkable — not bad, not 
great, just unremarkable. But 
then again, that’s Gavin DeGraw.

B-

Something 
Worth 
Saving

Gavin DeGraw

RCA Records

clipping. is ‘Misery’

ALBUM REVIEW

By DANIELLE IMMERMAN

Daily Arts Writer

Daveed Diggs’s experimental 

rap group, clipping., just dropped 
its second studio album. Splendor 
& Misery only 
holds true to the 
second half of 
its name. Sure, 
one 
can 
find 

enjoyment 
in 

Diggs’s erratic, 
skipping 
flow, 

but the produc-
tion makes the 
album 
sink. 

For the most part, it sounds like 
someone recorded a maintenance 
crew on a spaceship, and then said, 
“This sounds awful, but whatever. 
We’re doing it.”

clipping. began in Los Ange-

les in 2009. The group consists of 
the aforementioned Diggs as its 
vocalist, with William Hutson and 
Jonathan Snipes providing pro-
duction. Their first album, Midc-
ity, was released in 2013 on the 
group’s website. Shortly after that, 
they were signed to the record 
label Sub Pop and proceeded to 
release CLPPNG in 2014.

Their latest album, the first since 

Diggs found fame through his role 
in the musical “Hamilton,” feels 
out of reach. Perhaps it’s because 
of the outlandish and extrater-
restrial production. Maybe it’s 
because the album’s plot, which 
“follows the sole survivor of a 
slave uprising on an interstellar 

cargo ship, and the onboard com-
puter that falls in love with him.” 
Maybe it’s because of lines like 
“flesh is hanging in sun” on the 
track “True Believer.” Maybe it’s 
because of Diggs himself, who 
dances and glides over the beat 
at such a breakneck pace that the 
listener has little time to absorb 
his message. At certain points in 
the album, Diggs switches his 
flow up, choosing to go on robot-
ic diatribes instead. This change 
in pace is evident on the album’s 
final track, “A Better Place,” 
which is also the album’s most 
optimistic piece.

Daveed Diggs can say a whole 

bunch of words in a very small 
amount of time and still sound 
cool. At the risk of gross over-
simplification, this is his skill. He 
captivated audiences through-
out his dual performances as 
Thomas Jefferson and Marquis 
de Lafayette in “Hamilton.” His 
rhymes seem to barely touch the 
air, like bubbles in a fresh glass of 
champagne. The charisma of his 
persona has also pushed Diggs 
into the spotlight. His muscular 
build, wild hair and garish fash-
ion choices all contribute to the 
growing fame of the actor/rapper. 
Since he is primarily known for 
his Tony-winning performance 
in “Hamilton,” those who listen 
to Splendor & Misery are in for a 
rude awakening.

Throughout Splendor & Mis-

ery, the essence of Diggs’s lyrical 
style remains, but the abrasive 

instrumentals make the listen-
ing experience a strenuous one. 
The struggle is apparent from the 
first track of the album, “Long 
Way Away (Intro).” One is greet-
ed to the sound of overwhelming 
vibration, the same vibration that 
comes from your roommate’s sub-
woofer at 2 a.m. as you try to sleep 
or from a rocket ship. It’s tough to 
tell at 2 a.m.

It’s an annoying song, but it’s 

not intolerable as a short open-
ing track. The second track, 
“The Breach,” begins with Diggs 
rapping as a computer aboard a 
spaceship, describing a human 
that has been found in one of 
the cabins. It’s an undoubtedly 
interesting introduction, which 
shows off the rapper’s tremen-
dous lyrical versatility. It’s also 
an 
undoubtedly 
unpleasant 

beginning that ends with the 
reverberations of broken glass, 
gunfire and radio static. These 
harsh vibrations provide a strong 
foreshadowing for the rest of the 
album.

There are some albums out 

there that aren’t exactly fun, 
but they’re important and thus 
require listening: for instance, 
Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a But-
terfly. The album’s cocktail of 
jazz-fusion and hip hop contrib-
utes to a incredibly celebrated 
and sophisticated work, but it 
isn’t fun. Neither is Splendor 
& Misery, but it also lacks the 
cultural value to be considered 
important.

C

Splendor 
& Misery

clipping.

Sub Pop

