The Gorillaz, Plastic Beach

© Gorillaz

You don't need us to tell you that Gorillaz' Plastic Beach drops today. There's been a lot of buzz about this one. And for good reason. 2006's Demon Days brought this virtual band – fronted by a cartoonified version of Blur's Damon Albarn – into the mainstream. Fans have been yearning for more ever since.

Gorillaz have been pretty tight-lipped about this one. That is, until last week, when they released a few tracks on YouTube. And hungry fans jumped on them like dogs to table scraps. What they got were anything but "scraps." The material on the new album makes the stuff on Demon Days sound soooo 2006. It takes the electro-pop-funk fusion of Gorillaz trademark sound to a new level – sonically and thematically.

Plastic Beach shouldn't be enjoyed so much as to miss the point. There's some excellent satire here. "Superfast Jellyfish" pokes fun at the processed food we eat. "Some Kind of Nature" reminds that we're still a part of nature, and that "it's gonna come and find us." While "Sweepstakes," a Mos Def-rapped sonic collage, practically hits you over the head with its ideas of the root of our problems ("Mo money, mo money, mo money" and "Sweeeeeepstaaaaaaakes!).

Just like our manic world, Plastic Beach has something for everyone. Fans of hip hop will love that many of its luminaries have come around for the ride. Electro heads have a lot to dig on too. "Empire Ants" is just the kind of song you want to hear at 3 a.m. in a dark club (so long as you can get through its longish melancholy intro). "Broken" is a perfect lounge jam. Even "Glitter Freeze," with its long high-pitched electro pulses, will grow on you.

One fun and surprising element of Plastic Beach is how much help this virtual band had from some real music heavyweights. Snoop Dog raps on "Welcome to the Plastic Beach," Lou Reed lends his crackly world-weary voice to "Some Kind of Nature," Gruff Rhys and Da La Soul lighten the mood in "Superfast Jellyfish," and Little Dragon lends a feminine lilt to "Empire Ants" and "To Binge."

In a week, the excellent video for the excellent track "Stylo" has been viewed a million and a half times. It's the perfect anthem for our time. And because summer is just a few short months away, you'll be listening to this song, whether you like it or not, for a long time. (Just like we all listened to "Feel Good Inc" the summer of 2007.) There's no use fighting it. The only thing left to do is pop in your plastic ear buds and surrender to Plastic Beach.