Party Ends

   “Just be thankful that Pharrell gave you something to bump to” Ludacris pleaded with the world on his top 40 anthem Moneymaker.  Well, here I am listening to the new NERD album “Seeing Sounds” again but I am not so thankful.  May Ludacris have mercy on my soul.  

   Yeah, yeah, I get that NERD is totally different than the producing vehicle the Neptunes but I still want to be thankful.  I want to, I really do. The only thing that gets my foot tapping is the single about the girls in line to do coke.  I got to see NERD for the first time as part of Kanye’s Glow in the Dark Tour.  They were full of energy and choruses that pleaded for the stadium to stand up and dance- but most of the crowd was content sitting and watching Pharrell do the Charleston and the Jitter Bug while sorority pledges danced around him and gasped when they saw themselves on the megatron.  Yeah yeah, having two drummers is cool and different.  I guess.  I am all about the mixing and matching of different genres: Beck does it well.  Andre 300 does it well.  NERD doesn’t have the right combos.  Soul harmonies with 80’s shredding, or worse- rap with metal drums doesn’t work for me in this context.  They are trying very hard to not be pigeonholed into any one category and to embrace the musical freedom that their 100 or so popchart hits have afforded them, but it comes up a tad short.  To put this thought into terms that Pharrell could understand: it’s like having your Ice Cream sneakers and no designer laces to hold them together or make them tight.   

 

   Pharrell is a cool dude.  No doubt.  Nice sunglasses, flawless sneaker collection, he jumps well in concert, but I think NERD is better for me on stage where I can be entertained by Pharrell and the energy that the group produces.  Seeing Sounds relies on the listener being interested in a mallrat take on fusion music and the new age-ality of actually seeing music- whatever that means.  It just doesn’t mesh. But I do like that "Everybody Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom)"song, hopefully that will be enough to beg forgiveness from Ludacris.  

   Their label Interescope has been strict on the hosting of their songs, but you can buy that one song via itunes here.

Here is a pretty good remix of the track thanks to Trashbag Kids.
 

MP3: NERD- Everybody Nose (The Hump Day Project Rmx) (zshare)

 

...and for good measure: 

MP3: Ludacris- Money Maker (feat. Pharrell)