Cracker Island is the seventh album from the virtual band Gorillaz comprising of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. Ever since 2017, Gorillaz has been living in the shadows of its peak commercial and artistic success following the band’s first 3 albums. I think the band nearly achieved that same energy with 2020’s Song Machine, Vol. 1, which was more of a compilation of collaborative singles released throughout 2020. Though lacking the cohesion and connective themes a typical Gorillaz album contains, I feel that Song Machine brought that zany, cartoonish energy that made Gorillaz so special in the first place. Personally, I thought this new project, at first, was going to be a second volume to this project as the lead single to this album, the title track featuring the bass-whiz Thundercat, felt like it came from the same Song Machine sessions as it brought that same snappy and quirky songwriting that was present on that album. Clearly, this was not the case, however deep down I am convinced that this song was written prior to the conception of these other songs as I will soon elaborate on.

Cracker Island might just be the most sterile, by-the-numbers Gorillaz album since The Now Now. But where I find The Now Now underappreciated in its subtlety and warm production, I find Cracker Island to be a shelled-out product that is capitalizing on this current trend of 80s synthpop revivalism. The only exception to this claim is the previously mentioned title track, which was the lead single and first song to this album. This song sounds nothing like the rest of this album in the best way possible, danceable grooves, angular and buzzing synths, and killer background vocals from Thundercat (along with his bass playing, which is great, as expected).  I really do feel that this single is the only redeemable aspect of this album and I implore you to listen to this song only as everything else from here is just a wash. Perhaps my only other net-positive from this album is the song “Skinny Ape” which is also another song that is a tad sonically unique in the track list. I admit that the lyrics are hit-or-miss, but I do like the slow yet hopeful first half and how it explodes into this blown out, distorted New Rave beat with these “AY! AY! AY!” group chats which reminds me a lot of Oi-punk. I can commend the risk taken on this song which more-or-less turned out to work, it’s fun but I still think Gorillaz has made better versions of this kind of song in the past.

Genuinely I just find this album to be boring which is ridiculous to say when this is the same Gorillaz that made Plastic Beach. None of these songs sound *bad* per se, but Damon Albarn plays it so safe with these songs that it just comes off as Muzak to my ears. Songs like “Baby Queen”, “Oil”, and “New Gold” just come off as wallpaper music with washed out production that sounds like if you asked an AI to recreate a synthpop song. Any of the quirks or left-field production that makes Gorillaz such a captivating band is nowhere to be found on any of these songs. For the shortest Gorillaz album (not counting the after-the-fact bonus tracks), this album just toils away during the run-time. And just like the sound pallets on this album have become oversaturated and exhausted, the lyrics/themes of this album are also an echo-chamber of the same vapid topics! So many songs on this album are about the superficiality of the internet, disassociating via social media, the pandemic... but Damon Albarn brings nothing new to these topics. No interesting angles or opinions are shared on any of these songs. Remember, this is the same guy that made an entire album about the environment and climate change and not only made the songs catchy and earworms, but they were rich with imagery and interesting approaches to discussing these topics. Also, the features on this album (barring Thundercat) are the most useless, tacked-on features since Humanz. Beck, Stevie Nicks, and Adeleye Omotayo roleplay as the faintest background singers on their respective songs, Bad Bunny provides a single verse, Tame Impala just does his normal schtick, and Bootie Brown lays down perhaps the most cringe rap verses on a Gorillaz track. Shameful.

Conclusion: I really do not feel there was any passion put into this project. Perhaps the label pressured Damon into making a more commercial record after Song Machine failed to reach numbers (interestingly Cracker Island has been charting incredibly well so maybe this was just an experiment in making the most lowest-common-denominator music), or maybe Song Machine was just a fluke and Damon Albarn forgot how to write fun songs. Either way, just listen to the title track, it’s one of Gorillaz's best songs.  

Favorite Tracks: "Cracker Island", "Skinny Ape"