- For a brief period in time Andrew W.K. was heralded for creating semi-serious, life-affirming, singalong pop-metal anthems that at one very specific moment in time, saw yours truly caught up the friendliest circle pit I’ve ever entered at a Big Day Out. The teenage version of myself was in awe of his ability to party so hard, yet be so affable and kind hearted in doing so. Whenever some poor soul took a tumble, there were a gluttony of angels there to pick you up and not a single human was stomped and seemingly no one was groped by a mosh pit pervert. All was well with the world for forty-five glorious minutes.
Jump ahead to 2018 Andrew W.K.’s name seems like a distant memory from a time in which I was just finding my musical feet and slowly developing into the human I am today. I look back at those times with nothing but fondness, yet after listening to the first commercially available Andrew W.K record since 2010, I can’t help wish those memories would slink back into the crevices of consciousness, tucked behind the various traumas deep within my brain.
While I still consider myself as someone that -at least attempts- to party as hard as the next human, something on his latest, You’re Not Alone, just doesn’t hit the mark. It feels like that horrible moment in which you realise people aren’t laughing with you, they’re snickering behind your back; and now I’m the one chuckling and honestly it doesn’t feel great. The whole affair feels awkward, misguided and a bit saddening.
Andrew W.K.’s single-minded approach to creating rock records has worn so thin that it almost makes me consider the far flung option of going straight and perhaps getting that job at the bank I’ve always joked about. Is it possible the Andrew W.K. has partied hard enough for the majority of civilised society and sucked all the fun out of the entire world? His music has shifted from empowering and uplifting to overblown and painfully out-of-touch. More so than ever the songs here feel like karaoke versions of ‘80’s hair metal, without the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia to help blur the fact you haven’t had a couple too many glasses of confidence juice to numb your mind into oblivion.
Littered sporadically throughout the record are these one minute, spoken word interludes that come across as if they’re being delivered by the misguided high school student counsellor from Freaks And Geeks. The sentiment and positivity seems absolutely genuine and while in general I applaud his lust for life and wonderfully good vibes, it comes across as preachy and overly black and white. Being a good dude and partying hard is not going to cure cancer anytime soon Mr. W.K..
I really wish You’re Not Alone tickled the same regions as his earlier work. Andrew W.K. seems like a really decent human being and I hope that there’s people out there that will get a kick for his feel-good, throwback ode to better times; it’s just that person is not I. You know that weird feeling you get when a musician you idolise is a total piece of filth, this is like the polar opposite, but feels just as jarring and uncomfortable. Maybe it would be better if we were all alone after all.
- Jay Edwards.