U2 - Snap, Crackle and POP!, Part IV

I really don't have time to write this now-my thesis is due, my screenplay needs to be written, my reading isn't done, more papers need to be written, and, on top of everything, I'm trying to find a job. Sounds fun? It's not. If it wasn't any other band than U2, I would have blown this assignment off to the moon. But since it's everyone's favorite Irish rock band, I felt compelled to put in my proverbial two cents on U2's latest effort, Pop (Island).

To make things simple: I like it. There's a reason that U2 are the only "big band" of the 1980s to survive, even thrive, into the '90s, and that reason is adroitly contained on the wee little compact disk that hasn't left my CD player since last Tuesday, when the album came out. (Alas, the CD player is in my computer-what does that say about where I hang my hat these days?) Pop is the perfect title for the new U2: a nail in the coffin to the image of the Big Important Arena Rock Band that earnestly put forth pulsating anthems for the masses.

But deep down, U2 will always be filling arenas the size of a football field. And underneath the bristling futuristic textures of techno, the hallucinogenic patina of what people like to call trip-hop and the amplified, jittery rhythms lies a deep commitment to melody, guitar and songcraft. The new U2 album may sound like an apocalyptic beast, but underneath the hipster threads, the boys from Dublin are still the earnest soul-searchers they were way back in 1980.

But hey, you can catch all this stuff I'm telling you in the latest issues of Spin and Rolling Stone. (I'd try to come up with a new take on Pop, but I'm a little too tired at this point.) Instead, I'm listing all the noteworthy tracks that I like and will tell you why. Plus, there's a few random thoughts tacked on for your enjoyment. When all else fails, make a list, n'est-ce pas?

1. "Discoth*que" The single, as I'm sure you all know. (If you don't, you are the moss underneath a wet rock.) The sexy guitar growl and fierce techno-fied rhythms hint at Eurotrash club kids, drugs in the bathroom and the abandon of a night of excess.

2. "Do You Feel Loved?" My favorite song, so far. After the departure of "Discoth*que," the yearning of the unforgettable chorus simply soars on an escalating echo of a guitar and bass intertwined like two lovers at night.

3. "Mofo" Probably the most controversial track, and the litmus test of old-school U2 lovers and new-school ones. Aggressive industrial/techno textures and over-modulated vocals crash and burn, but underneath all the hip stylings is a new "Wire."

4. "If God Will Send His Angels" Power ballad, in the vein of "One." Plus, Edge does the acoustic thing!

5. "Staring at the Sun" To riff on a recent Spin review: the song that Oasis could write if they weren't so damn silly.

6. "Miami" Another one of those U2 songs that won't appeal to the old-school. At about this track, the album mutates into shimmering sonic sculpture that explores the full capabilities of electronica to capture atmosphere in otherworldly textures.

7. "If You Wear That Velvet Dress" I can feel this evolving into my favorite track-a gorgeous noir drenched in moonlight and gossamer, quietly desiring and shimmering. Submerged underneath a melancholy bassline lies undulating prisms of guitar and Bono's restrained, pleading vocal. Not a French kiss, but a nibble on the neck-and still intriguingly sensual.

8. "Please" How come every U2 album has a penultimate, passionate, crescendoing quasi-anthem?

Random thought #1: Pop is a perfect example of how electronic music is not incompatible with melody, passion and emotion. Hopefully, millions of people will buy the album and get used to this idea.

Random thought #2: (Larry Mullen is still totally hot.)

Random thought #3: Okay, okay-lots of people like to say that U2 has been "poaching" from techno/hip-hop/electronic pioneers. And if you listen to stuff by people like Dillinja, Aphex Twin and LFO, you'll hear seeds of Pop. But you know: stop being so purist. It halts the evolution of culture and ossifies artistic blood.