Music Review // Rodrigo y Gabriela "Monster"

  "Monster" is a song which feels both important musically but also when intertwined with its music video as well.   Rodrigo y Gabriela begin this song with these dark guitars that are acoustic and as the song goes on, the pace increases as does the intensity.  They build to electric starts and stops, as this song isn't about the verse/chorus/verse style but closer to an expansion, just taking a sound and really opening it up.   In this way, I feel like this song is given life.  It's created in the same way that Frankenstein created his monster and perhaps that is the idea behind the title of the song as well.

The music video which goes with this song is animated by Naoki Urasawa, who is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential creators of manga, even having a book from back in 1994 called "Monster".   When I say this is animated, you are literally watching it be created as the music plays which in some ways feels like a proof of actual artist video, which in itself could be a statement against the use of AI.   Still, the way this takes shape as one person to two people playing guitars, you can just see the process and it's fun to see how such images are created line by line as well.

As easy as it is to get caught up in this song musically,if you're just listening to it on its own, you can become just as hypnotized in a sense by watching the way in which it is animated unfold.  Perhaps the connection between the song, the animation and even Naoki Urasawa is that when this video is nearly over the two people playing guitar in the front are joined by someone walking away in the middle, set further back.  I like to think that this music itself is that driving force to create the monster who is walking away now, such as Dr. Frankenstein had that bolt of lightning, Rodrigo y Gabriela have their sound.

Watching the music video makes me feel like that is how this all tied together, but if you're simply listening to this song and not influenced by the video then you can become the monster which this sound creates.  Whatever it is in life you have to do- from nailing a job interview to tackling laundry to overcoming the demons within you- "Monster" feels like that type of song which can push you to have that strength and confidence you need.  We may not always be physically battling things with a sword, but this song will guide us in whatever way we are fighting.