Appearing Friday night, No Doubt is one of the biggest acts at this year’s Riot Fest (Sept. 11-13 at Douglas Park). One RedEye staffer loves ’em, one hates ’em. Let’s discuss.
Love
Let’s get this straight. No Doubt is not Gwen Stefani. And Gwen Stefani is not No Doubt.
No Doubt is a punk rock band that artfully infused ska and reggae into the late-’90s, early-’00s pop vernacular. Gwen Stefani, a pop artist who successfully deviated from No Doubt’s punk sound to her own—more controversial—musical infusion, could not carry a Riot Fest headline slot. No Doubt can. You will not get a Gwen Stefani-harajuku dance break Friday night. You’ll get a No Doubt mosh pit.
No Doubt wasn’t thrust into success. It earned it. The band’s first two studio albums, “No Doubt” and “The Beacon Street Collection,” are relatively unknown. It’s obvious that when producing 1995’s chart-topping “Tragic Kingdom,” which included hits “Don’t Speak,” “Just a Girl” and “Spiderwebs,” the punk rockers took heed of lessons learned from the previous, less-successful records. “Return of Saturn” (2000) and “Rock Steady” (2001) were excellent follow-ups, producing hits like “Ex-Girlfriend,” “Hey Baby” and “Hella Good” and solidifying No Doubt’s longevity and dance-punk prowess.
Not every album or every track is amazing (though No Doubt’s 2012 album “Push and Shove” was a relative flop, the band was without Stefani, as she pursued solo stardom and had children, for most of its decade-long production), but you can’t deny No Doubt’s experimental mix of Jamaican, electric and punk sounds. The group’s career is perfect because it’s flawed and imperfect, just like Riot Fest. And by the way: I’d like to see Taylor and Katy in Friday night’s mosh. I hear raw punk sounds cure all bad blood. — Jordan M. Schultz
Hate
If you have six hours to spare, I will tell you how much I loathe Gwen Stefani’s obnoxious, moronic song “Spark the Fire.” Had it been an artist’s first single, we’d never hear from that person again.
And it’s an extension of what’s terrible about her band, No Doubt—an inability to do something catchy that’s not infinitely annoying. Do the group’s songs stick in your head? Yes. Is it enjoyable when that happens? Really, really not. I know ’90s nostalgia is big right now, and I’m plenty happy when forgotten gems from the era come on at a bar/Savage Garden-owned restaurant/Dishwalla-themed party, but hearing “Just a Girl,” “Spiderwebs” and pretty much any of No Doubt’s most popular songs is to me a few notches less desirable than that noise when the drill is coming toward your face at the dentist.
Perhaps there are some good album tracks buried in the group’s discography—I don’t know, and I’m not planning to find out. I sorta liked Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” more than a decade ago. But I find the attitude of both her solo stuff and the band’s material (run away from “Settle Down,” the first single from 2012’s “Push and Shove,” and listen to the great song of the same name by the 1975) remarkably phony and stale, a lingering echo of a sound and posture that was stupid even at its peak and stuck around partially because of Stefani’s high-profile (and now over) marriage to Gavin Rossdale, as if anyone gives a damn about Bush either. To see No Doubt instead of rap legend Ice Cube (and whomever the special guests are) or rock legends Motorhead is nothing short of musical blasphemy. – Matt Pais
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