The first full-length album by Art Vs Science The Experiment debuted at #2 on the ARIA charts. The Experiment knocked Rihanna out of the number 2 position but lacked the clout to oust Michael Buble from the top spot on the charts. As of the weekend here is the top ten purchased albums on the Australian charts:
1 Crazy Love – Michael Buble
2 The Experiment – Art vs. Science
3 Loud – Rihanna
4 Doo-wops & Hooligans – Bruno Mars
5 Greatest Hits… So Far!!! – P!nk
6 21 – Adele
7 Bon Jovi Greatest Hits – Bon Jovi
8 My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West
9 Teenage Dream – Katy Perry
10 The Beginning – The Black Eyed Peas
Like their fellow ARIA chartees, The Black Eyed Peas, Art Vs Science receive enthusiastic partisan support from their extensive fan base – bolstered through generous Triple J support and the band’s ubiquitous presence on the Aussie festival circuit (they’re currently sailing the the Future Music Festival wave). They have also been nominated for four ARIA awards and been voted in the Top 10 for the past two consecutive years in Triple J’s Hottest 100 countdown. However, something else the band has in common with the BEPs is the scorn of a community of listeners and bloggers who criticise the band as a novelty act.
In a recent review of The Experiment, music blog Polaroids of Androids awarded the album 0.2 out of 10, writing: THIS ALBUM IS OFFENSIVE. IT’S EMBARRASSING THAT THEY ARE AUSTRALIAN. I FELT DUMBER AFTER LISTENING TO IT. IF YOU ACTUALLY ENJOY THIS ALBUM YOU SHOULDN’T BE ALLOWED TO VOTE. I’M SURE THEY ARE NICE HUMAN BEINGS BUT I REALLY HOPE THAT ART VS SCIENCE STOP MAKING MUSIC.
While The Black Eyed Peas (as of the Fergie years) construct singles around stupid catchphrases like “Let’s Get Retarded” and “Boom Boom Pow” while thickly basting all vocals in Auto-Tune, there is a certain amount of begrudging credit given to the band: they really know how to write stupid accessible music geared to the “club” with enough hooks, brainless but memorable lyrics (“I’m…having…a good…time…witchu”), and inescapable earworm choruses to keep them positioned in the charts indefinitely. Not to mention that millions of people around the world like and buy their music.
Similarly, to reuse a line we once wrote: Art Vs. Science write some of the most accessible (some would say unchallenging) and unashamedly fun (some would say brainless) tunes to emerge from the Australian dance music mire. And, while it is hard for critics to praise songs about flippers, do you know what’s even harder? Getting 20,000 people to sing along to a song about flippers.
If Art Vs. Science is the Black Eyed Peas of the Australian music industry then they can rest easy knowing that they’re on their way to being much too rich and popular to care what we or anyone else writes about them.
Via the west
