He ain't no Scott Pilgrim
Our resident Kiss92 DJ/journo takes a listen to Michael Cera's little music project, True That
COMMENTARY
If any actor deserves to make a record, it's probably Michael Cera.
Here is a kid who has made two of the very best music movies of the past several years - Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, and Nick And Nora's Infinite Playlist.
Nick And Nora is the ultimate hipster movie, with Cera as a bassist who embarks upon a night of youthful adventure with Kat Dennings.
The soundtrack is so hip that you'll recognise only a few of the acts, maybe Vampire Weekend, Billy Joel and Spice Girls.
Devendra Banhart? The Dead 60s? Band Of Horses? The Pinker Tones?
Nope.
Scott Pilgrim is of course a pop masterpiece, with Cera starring as a bass player (yes, again.) who must battle his new girlfriend's "seven evil exes".
The soundtrack (yes, again) is hipper than thou, featuring the likes of The Bluetones, Beachwood Sparks and Blood Red Shoes.
There are also some better known artists such as Beck, whose Ramona is a standout.
The highlight for me is probably Cera's bass-off against Brandon Routh. There are simply not enough bass-offs in this crazy world.
Anyway, Cera gets a chance to play more than just the bass on his new album True That.
He put the project up on website Bandcamp a couple of weeks ago with almost zero fanfare.
People only started noticing after his actor friend Jonah Hill (The Wolf Of Wall Street) started tweeting about it.
Curious fans and critics took a listen, and... most really liked what they heard. (Psst. It's free to stream and about $9 to download.)
As you might expect from such a slip of a guy, Cera's music is very mild mannered.
INDIE POP
I'm not exactly sure what the official label might be, but it's kind of an indie pop.
Many of the 18 tracks are very short, like one or two minutes, and a lot of them are just sort of wobbly piano pieces, such as Gershey's Kiss, Of A Thursday and Kettle.
I really like these pieces.
When he tries to do actual songs with actual words, he sounds like an even wimpier version of Paul Simon.
On tunes like Steady Now and Ruth, he sings so feebly that all I can think is that he needs some vitamins, stat.
One gets the feeling that he put the whole album together in his bedroom, in his pyjamas, in-between naps.
I imagine his only audience being his soft toys.
"How was that, Teddy?"
"You're da bestest, Michael!"
Find True That at www.michaelceramusic.bandcamp.com.
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