Consumer Guide Album

Japandroids: Celebration Rock [Polyvinyl, 2012]
Kind of heartwarming that it's still possible for a young band to rock out with palpable joy about the pleasures, terrors, and life lessons of the road--the songs of experience thing, as if the road is reality in a way their jobs in Vancouver weren't. Helps that they're a duo--decreases the mathematical likelihood of a member nutting out, increases each member's share of the measly take. Also helps that they're not actually young--around 30 is my guess. Rendering this an escape into youth rather than from it by guys old enough to realize that if they hope to make a success of their hustle they need to turn into something like professionals--tunesmiths, even. A-