| Fly or Die, the second album from NERD is, irritatingly, not quite what you want and never quite what it seems. That's not to say it isn't occasionally brilliant, just a little taxing on the grey matter and something of an eccentric folly. If you're looking for the pop accessibility they produce as the Neptunes, frustration may force you to wish you'd never been swayed by all that hip rhetoric. Of course, Pharrell Williams is a star in his own right and can croon like the best, so it would be churlish for him to omit a crowd pleaser or two. Hence the spaced-out "She Wants to Move", a funk-rock belter that contains the line "Her ass is a spaceship I want to ride". The rest of the album feels awkward, drawing on a confusing roll call of influences, including prog rock, the Beatles and Hendrix. But there's wheat amongst the psychedelic chaff: "Wonderful Place" stands out a mile as the best thing on here, a slice of toasted soul baguette that's as heavenly as manna. Often infuriating, yet never predictable, NERD shine when they get it right. Just forgive them their youthful indulgence, if that's what it takes. --Paul Tierney |
