REVIEW: Discovery - LP

ZACH THAT:

You know that asshole that has a lot of fancy keyboards and their own in house studio who always makes you listen to their pain inducing demo? I think we all have a person like that in our lives. Now imagine if two less than talented groups, Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot joined forces to create an album so disastrously douchebag, that it makes you yearn for those crappy demos your friend made.

The side project from this “Super Group” ironically picked the name Discovery. If bands are explorers and the art of music is untouched land…then Discovery’s contribution is on par with me declaring I stumbled upon America while on a spice hunt. The point here is, Discovery has not stolen, but photocopied from the pages of Passion Pit and other contemporary synth pop bands, while throwing in a little auto-tune if the product wasn’t cheesy enough. The music will be described by many critics and fans as “fun”. You know what…I’m sick of this statement. I like “fun” music as well…but I really can’t have fun with awful music, it bothers me too much. People defending music by saying it’s “fun” lead to us having to endure the likes of Lady Gag and in a few months question why that person even existed in the first place.

The music is simple and often verges on insulting. Many of my friends have claimed that this side project is a joke…making a comment on the current state of pop music. I really hope this is true, but I’m afraid this album these guys are serious. The album sent me over the edge when I hit the Jackson 5 cover, “I Want You Back”. A perfect cover in my mind is a track that can make you look at the original song in a new (positive) light. Never in my worst nightmares did I think I would be forced to hear this Jackson 5 classic raped by auto-tune and the simplistic pounding of Discoveries keyboards. For a great cover, look to Starfucker, who recently covered “Girl’s Just Want To Have Fun” on their new LP “Jupiter”. That’s a “fun” cover that is clever with its take on the Lauper tune.

Look, I get it. Some people really love this album…they have every right to love it. The flip side to this is I have every right to express my disgust that people find Discovery enjoyable. The album receives .4 points because it is so damn successful in being a complete failure. If the guys ever want to confirm my friends notions that this project is a joke, I would be glad to bump up the score to a 5.0…it’s about as funny as that Lonely Island album…but sadly these guys think they’re writing quality music. Discovery has taken a top spot, however, as my front-runner for worst album of the year.