Does It Offend You, Yeah? : Epic Last Song/We Are Rockstars

Does It Offend You, Yeah? is a band with some issues. First of all, their name is crazy. It's got five words, two pieces of punctuation, and is a complete sentence on its own. This means it's very difficult, up to the point of embarrassment, to discuss the band with anyone who doesn't already know about them, which is pretty much everyone I've ever met.

Second, they can't seem to decide what kind of band they want to be. On the one hand, half the album sounds like rock-based electronica, along the lines of Justice, and the other half sounds exactly like an 80's revival act, like an upbeat Modern English maybe, or even a little like early U2. So I kind of wanted to explore this dichotomy and post two songs by them, one from each of their sides.

"Epic Last Song" is, appropriately enough, the final song on their album, and while not spectacular, it is a thoroughly enjoyable slab of pop. It somehow manages to sound really, really familiar, and yet I can't figure out who it sounds like. Maybe you can let me know your thoughts in the comments. In any case, there are a few other straight-up pop songs like this on the album.

"We Are Rockstars" is a more dance-oriented tune. It kicks off with a straight-up four-on-the-floor beat snazzed out with some really nice cowbell and slaps you right in the face with some super-intense synth riffs. It hammers on the beat for a while, but then drops into a calm breakdown that sounds like it's straight off an A Flock of Seagulls record, with some vocoder thrown in to really set that 80's mood. That lasts a little while, then it's back to the thrashing synth and rhythm. This switches up a couple more times through the song, until finally the monsoon of sound ends, tossing you up onto the beach in blissful silence.

Basically, whichever side of the road the band feels like traveling, it's a solid record all the way through. Both of these songs can be found on their 2008 release, You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into.

Also, since I've promised a song a day, this post will cover the next 2 days. Enjoy!

PS: In case you weren't sure about their 80's leanings, one of the songs on their new album is called "Home Is Where The Heart Is (A Song For John Hughes)".

[You can listen to Does It Offend You, Yeah?'s "Epic Last Song" by navigating to the post "Song066" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

[You can listen to Does It Offend You, Yeah?'s "We Are Rockstars" by navigating to the post "Song067" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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