Lately, a strange yet invigorating '80s-esque dance song has been blaring out of what at first seems to be your standard-fare McDonald's commercials designed to appeal to an urban demographic. While taking on the flavors of the bouncy, catchy beats of the "Me Decade," there is something a bit deeper, a bit more reflective and a bit more lyrical to this music. It has subtlety and a somewhat disconcerting sense of sincerity, in contrast to ironic '80s-throwback bands like Fannypack and Junior Senior. It is distinctively out of place within the confines of a McDonald's ad, and some may find themselves asking, "What is this music?"
The answer is Chromeo, or more specifically, Chromeo's song "Rage!"
Peculiarly enough, Friday Night Rock first became acquainted with the group through this Mickey D's advertisement, thus exemplifying the recent trend of corporations using indie music for their marketing campaigns in an attempt to tap into a younger demographic.
Chromeo -- FNR's headliner for their first show of the term -- is a two-man band consisting of David Macklovitch, a.k.a. Dave One, and Patrick Gemayel, a.k.a. P-Thugg. Best friends since adolescence and both Montreal natives, Dave One is a Jewish McGill graduate currently earning his Ph.D. in French literature from Columbia University, while P-Thugg is a street-tough Arab adept at creating catchy bass lines and drum-machine beats.
Dave One presides over the electronics and writes the lyrics, aspiring, as he was once quoted as saying, to "write sincere love songs like 'Cool It Now' by New Edition."
P-Thugg uses a talkbox to generate a processed vocal sound, describing his method as similar, in his own words, to "taking a speaker and putting it in your mouth, and then forcing the sound to come back out."
Together, the two have created a unique sound that FNR's Andrew Sandoval '06 and Don Stewart '06 said is reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem and Prince with a whisper of Daft Punk. Elaborating further, Stewart described the sound as "retrospective and goofy, not schlocky," and "hugely accessible, [drawing] from an era of music that is loved."
Released under the Vice Records label, Chromeo's first album "She's in Control" dropped in 2004 to positive reviews in Fader, Paper, The New York Times and The Washington Post and to noteworthy mentions in Spin, Urb, Rolling Stone, Zink and Entertainment Weekly, just to list a few of the publications.
Not ones to be too-cool-for-school, the band members adamantly deny that their music possesses the irony so typically apparent in other '80s-inspired bands. As Dave One laid out to New York Times reporter Victoria DeSilverio, "If we were ironic, we'd do a polka album," with P-Thugg adding, "We're fun, not funny."
Furthermore, on the web site for ModularPeople -- an affiliate of Vice Records -- Dave One gushed in a statement, "Sure, our sound is vintage and danceable. Sure, all our songs talk about girls. But we're so passionate about it that it's not even funny anymore."
For Friday Night Rock, this show is intended as an emphatic "welcome (back)" to all students. "[Chromeo] is a broad-based band unless you don't know how to have fun, and as a first show, [we wanted] to create a welcoming attitude [and a] real partying atmosphere," explained Sandoval. "This is the one to enjoy."
The show -- scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 1 in Fuel -- promises to be lively, at the very least. With Chromeo's reputation for being a "big disco-boogie free-for-all" (as described by Rolling Stone), our school's absolute love of dancing (intact from last spring, as evidenced by the turnout at last week's parties) and a ready supply of refreshments and free beer (available only to the over-21 set, of course), it should not be surprising if this concert turns out to be the raucous campus event of the Fall term.
Although the location officially accommodates 80 people at any given time -- with a crowd of about 200 expected -- everything should be okay since people are likely to fluctuate in and out of the venue. Hopefully.
In a stroke of genius by FNR organizers, Dartmouth-based band Oh No Dinosaur! opens for Chromeo. This arrangement enables students -- especially freshmen -- to experience the music of Dartmouth's own talent before rocking out to a more renowned band.
Essentially, FNR's purpose is to give campus bands a venue to perform, and by having campus bands serve as opening acts, the organization hopes to acquaint students with both the FNR community and Darmouth's indie-rock scene.
Doors open at 9:30 p.m., with Oh No Dinosaur! going on at 10:00 p.m. and Chromeo performing thereafter. So come see the campus band described by FNR member Pam Cortland '06 as sounding like "you and your best friends taking a road trip to Canada in an ice cream truck," followed by the up-and-coming Montreal duo hailed by Sandoval as being like "danceable Kentucky Fried Chicken."
Your frenetic feet will not be disappointed.
