John's Track of the Week: Gorillaz's "Superfast Jellyfish"

Song: Superfast Jellyfish

Artist: Gorillaz

Album: Plastic Beach

Rating: 7.0

For any other group, a track like this would be an album killer. With samples from a 1986 Swanson commercial and psychedelic tropical backing, the goofy song has all the makings of an experimental dud. However, since we're talking about Gorillaz here, not only does it succeed, but it manages to be one of the best tracks on Plastic Beach, their most recent endeavor that came out yesterday.

While the fictional band members, along with guests Gruff Rhys and De La Soul meander through the song, you can't help but get caught up in the subtle things going on around you. It's a lot to take in, between the references to carrots, electronic sampling and looping, along with a myriad of other sounds. But nonetheless, for Gorillaz this all makes sense. If the imagery band creator David Albarn was looking to convey was a matured, White Album-type collection of experimentation, both the track and album succeed in this regard. Check it out below.