Canada’s Japandroids were, at one time in the early 2010s, the saviors of rock n roll. While Williamsburg was the hub of all things indie – which included bands like Grizzly Bear, The National, and Dirty Projectors – Vancouver’s Japandroids(which included guitarist/vocalist Brian King and drummer/vocalist David Prowse) arrived in 2009 with Post-Nothing. That album was a shot of adrenaline, equal parts Springsteen and Petty anthems mixed with boozed-soaked Replacements punk swagger. They were a breath of fresh air in a very stuffy scene.
2012 was the year of Japandroids as they dominated indie rock with their masterpiece Celebration Rock, an opus to weekends, getting drunk, and cranking the amps to 11. After listening to the album you blew well over the legal limit. It was also an album loaded with youthful abandon and leaving responsibility at the barroom door.
Five years later Japandroids released the follow-up, Near to the Wild Heart of Life, an album that remained in the pale light of last calls and buzzing streetlights. Seven years later and the band is releasing their swan song, Fate & Alcohol. Guitarist Brian King is ready to call it quits, finding sobriety and soon to be a father for the first time. Instead of disappearing quietly they put it all in one more round. It’s a solid farewell.
If there’s one song that sums up this goodbye, I suppose it would be the track “Upon Sober Reflection”, a song about coming to terms with wanting to settle down and leave the hangovers behind in place of a quieter life. “Had it with the unknown/
And I’m making that known today/I’ll repeat every one of my words/So no mistaking what I say” is belted over punk rock riffs and big melodies. It’s the perfect summing up of where these guys are at.
There are some great songs here, like the pop-hooky “Fugitive Summer” and Bob Mould-esque “A Gaslight Anthem”. “Chicago” is a belter ode to the Windy City, while “All Bets Are Off” is the perfect end to this album, and Japandroids.
Eventually the party ends and everyone has to go home. Japandroids know this, so they decided to thrown one hell of a farewell. Fate & Alcohol is the perfect end to an era.
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