If there were ever a case where I would implore you not to judge a book by its cover, it is with Darwin Deez. Yes, I agree he looks like one of those kids who grew a mustache before anyone else in High School with a bunch of curly parsley affixed to his head. And don't even get me started on the music video for 'Radar Detector'. It features every hipster requisite in spades. Oversized old Sweaters? Check. Green Screen Dancing? Check. Junk-Heap Inventions? Check. TYPEWRITER TYPING ITSELF?!?! Check. You will want to hate Darwin Deez, but you can't.
However insufferable his shtick may be, he sells it with genuine and enthusiastic naivete. It doesn't hurt that the song is one of the catchiest I've heard this side of Lady Gaga. Great chord progressions, great interlude, brisk pacing. There's no denying the comparisons to early-Strokes, but where The Strokes were steeped in everything New York City, I'm not sure Darwin has ever left his apartment. His music is all the more endearing for this, more interested in constellations and scuba-diving than scoring drugs and chasing tail. Different strokes for different Strokes.
As usual, great song and thanks for broadening my music horizons.
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