In the following article, Senior Arts and Life Editor Nicholas Joseph Mendola, Senior Sports Editor Jaclyn Bailey O'Brien and Editorial Editor Evan Parker Piece will discuss the latest Beck release, "Guero."
EPP: Everyone keeps calling this album a return to the funky-white boy of "Odelay," but I think you can tell Beck got ... old. It's funky, with "E-Pro" and "Black Tambourine" going nuts with beats and samples, but Beck hasn't gotten over the heartbreak of "Sea Change." It carries over.
NJM: I don't think it's a level of maturity, I think it's a level of genius. So many people use that word so carelessly, but Beck hasn't done anything wrong in the last, well, how old is he? Thirty-four? Okay, 33 years. I hear he had a bad teething incident early on.
JOB: I just wanted to point out that I've seen Beck live at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and neither of you music nerds have.
NJM: Yeah, but we wanted to.
EPP: Real bad.
NJM: "Guero" is a nice cross-section of all his work. "Broken Drum" has the sort of droning, honest craftsmanship of "Sea Change," but "Hell Yes" has just as much goofy, slacker hip-hop soul as "Mellow Gold."
JOB: "Que Onda Guero" has the type of hip-hop feel that always made me think of Beck as a fourth Beastie Boy.
NJM: I feel that, but he's too young.
EPP: And too from California.
NJM: What's great about "Guero," in a sort of throwback to "Midnite Vultures," is that it is absolutely top-notch make-out music. It is impossible not to listen to tracks like "Missing" and "Earthquake Weather," and not contemplate making your smoothest move on a classy lady.
EPP: And leave her on the side of the road without her shoes, driving off in your "Rental Car."
JOB: Hey!
NJM: (in a Spanish accent) Here we go again!
