Gorrilaz stay afloat at the ‘Plastic Beach’

Gorillaz

Plastic Beach

Virgin Records

Rocks like: Gorillaz,… Gorillaz

Plastic Beach

Virgin Records

Rocks like: Gorillaz, anyone featured on it

Grade: A-

Sitting at home and tolerating MTV sometime around the year 2000, I watched as a group of musicians with cartoon avatars named Gorillaz invaded my screen and began “playing” a song with a name as intimidating as the music emanating from the TV speakers. That song was “Clint Eastwood.”

Ten years later, with Plastic Beach, Damon Albarn of Blur and Jamie Hewlett of Tank Girl have created a musical experience that sounds as current and fresh as their debut album did when it was released.

Boasting guests galore — everyone from Lou Reed to Mick Jones to Snoop Dogg stops by.

The results are sometimes hard to believe. “Stylo,” for example, juxtaposes soul legend Bobby Womack and rapper Mos Def over “Tron”-worthy electronic instrumentation.

As with the previous two Gorillaz albums, the songs are instantly catchy and demonstrate something the band appears to have developed immunity to: slump albums.

Gorillaz’ distinctively diverse style is perhaps the album’s biggest hurdle. Covering such a wide range of styles with only 16 tracks doesn’t damage any of the songs’ integrity, but it’s a bit overwhelming to take in as a cohesive experience.

Some of the wonderful trademarks of a sound are lost, and Damon Albarn’s voice occasionally seems to be hiding in the track.

Gorillaz may be a virtual band, but the music on Plastic Beach extends beyond its virtual gimic..