“We all just wanna be kids again / but you can't buy back your innocence”.
These are world-weary words from a
world-weary band. They come from That Handsome Devil's song 'Buyer's
Remorse' and they lament the woeful transition from wide-eyed
children to the drudgery of adulthood that we all must undertake
sooner or later. That Handsome Devil's latest release is called The Jungle Book and
it is, indeed, based on the classic 1967 Disney film of the same
name. Each of it's six songs is a cover of a song featured in the
movie as sung by apes, crows, elephants, bears, and people. Is this a
last ditch attempt at buying back that innocence? Not by a long shot.
The cold introduction introduces us
into this new, frightening world before diving into the swooning
doo-wop of 'Friends'. The lyrics might expound friendship on the
surface but they leave a bad taste in your mouth, turning a once
heart-warming sentiment into bitter irony – all driven with a
Sergeant Pepper's marching beat. 'March', all militaristic beats and
squelching guitars, has become a dehumanizing doctrine about the loss of
individuality. 'Fire' revels in its own self-destructiveness even if the sour horns drag you
slowly down to hell. 'Bare' – formerly the sing-along favourite
'The Bare Necessities' – has lost all of its joy, now merely a
whimpered plea for survival. THD find the evil at the heart of these
tunes and exposes it for all to see. I dare to say that it will be
hard for me to ever hear the original versions of these songs the
same way ever again should I attempt to revisit my childhood. Only
Godforbid and crew could turn the music of a celebrated kid's cartoon
into a morose meditation on (sur)reality and the dark side of the
human soul.
The sole moment of tranquility in all
of this is the final track, 'Home'. It acts as the voice of
compassion that pierces through the gloom; soothing the savage beast
with female vocals and gentle string arrangements. That Handsome
Devil move in leaps and bounds never satisfied with their current lot
in life. For a band with only two full-length albums (and three EPs)
to their name, their sound has a maturity that is hard to match. For
years now I have been calling THD one of the best, most overlooked
bands on Earth. The Jungle Book is just more ammunition for me to do
so.
Rating: A
Recommended tracks: March, Fire, Home
Do you know what the BEST part of this album is? It is 100% FREE! You can download it here.
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