Happy Anniversary: Daft Punk’s “Homework” 25 Years Later
25 Years Later, Just As Relevant Today
January 20, 1997. It might not seem that long ago to many people. However, I was in 7th grade, 13-years-old, and had never heard of electronic music. And yet, on January 20, 1997, the world was introduced to Daft Punk via their debut album, Homework.
Not only was it an introduction to Daft Punk, but a popular introduction to French house music. (The history of electronic music is a detailed column for a future date.)
Daft Punk was the stage name for Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, and would eventually become synonymous with electronic and dance music.
Homework was never intended to be an album out of the box, it was more rooted in the success of Daft Punk’s early singles (“Da Funk” and “Rollin’ & Scratchin’”) which led to them getting signed by Virgin Records in 1996, which is pretty remarkable off the bat for any band to go straight to a major label.
So, it seems warranted to look at how Homework was reviewed in 1997, and how it’s reflected upon today.
At The Time
‘Da Funk’ resurfaces again here, naturally, but its unadorned chugging barely hints at the 57 flavours of madness and self-indulgence scratched into this 80-minute mammoth of a debut. In fact, it’s a relatively misleading primer for the ear-imploding demolition beats of ‘Rollin’ And Scratchin” or ‘Rock’n’Roll’, the droll early electro moves of ‘Oh Yeah’ or the honking cut-up minimalism of ‘High Fidelity’. There is even a note-perfect pastiche of vintage, bubble-permed, vocoder-enhanced disco-funk entitled ‘Around The World’. Groovy — but, at over seven minutes, perhaps a joke too far.
Entertainment Weekly 1997 Review:
Burping out its hook over an old-school funk beat, this French duo’s” Da Funk” is techno’s long-awaited answer to deliciously kitschy classic-rock instrumentals like” Frankenstein.” Not every track on their debut is as arresting as that single, and thumpers like” Rollin’ & Scratchin”’ go on too long. But Daft Punk never forget to let their playful, hip-hopping ambient techno keep turning the beat around, making Homework ideal disco for androids. B+
Recent Reflections
It’s tempting, too, to tie a connective thread between Homework and the brash sounds that proliferated during the peak heyday of the financial descriptor-cum-music genre known as EDM; close your eyes while listening to “Alive” ‘s big-tent sweep and try not to imagine the tune destroying a festival crowd. But for all of Homework’s aggressive charms, it’s also retained a homespun intimacy in comparison to how positively widescreen Daft Punk’s music became afterwards.
When Daft Punk called it quits in February 2021, it not only caught the world by surprise, but it kicked off a huge wave of appreciation. Artists shared their thanks on Twitter, fans made playlists, and everyone took a moment to appreciate that Daft Punk gave the world amazing music.
The Highlights via Music Videos
Picking out highlights from an album that is as long as some kids animation movies is like picking a favorite scene out of that movie. It tells a part, but misses the big picture. But, what’s more fun than admiring the visual treats that Daft Punk thoughtfully added to their musical talents.
“Da Funk”
“Tell me you’re a Spike Jonze music video without telling me.”
This would be a prime example.
Big City Nights, as the short film is titled, follows an anthropomorphic dog named Charles as he wanders the streets of New York City while his boombox plays ‘Da Funk.’
It’s goofy and weird and fun.
Thomas Bangalter has stated:
“There’s no story. It is just a man-dog walking with a ghetto blaster in New York. The rest is not meant to say anything. People are trying to explain it: Is it about human tolerance? Integration? Urbanism? There’s really no message. There will be a sequel someday.”
“Around The World”
It’s arguably their most well-known song, or maybe tied with “One More Time”, and the video itself is as equally iconic.
Directed by Michel Gondry, it is as visually exciting as the music is. So much happens on the screen, there’s no way you could take it all in at once.
From Wikipedia:
“Michel Gondry’s music video for the song features five groups of characters on a platform representing a vinyl record: four robots walking around in a circle; four tall athletes (as described by Gondry)[3] wearing tracksuits with small prosthetic heads walking up and down stairs; four women dressed like synchronized swimmers (described by Gondry as “disco girls”)[3] moving up and down another set of stairs; four skeletons dancing in the center of the platform; and four mummies dancing in time with the song’s drum pattern.”
“Burnin’”
The third single off Homework, “Burnin’” was directed by Seb Janiak.
The music video for “Burnin’” pays tribute to Chicago house producers that Daft Punk found inspiration in. The party scene in the video features DJ Sneak, Roger Sanchez, Derrick Carter, Roy Davis Jr., Paul Johnson, Robert Armani and DJ Hyperactive. Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk also make brief cameo appearances in the video as people at the party; Bangalter wears sunglasses and a long-haired, dark wig, while de Homem-Chisto appears in a purple suit, sunglasses and blonde wig.[1] The video was shot in Chicago using an office building at One South Wacker Drive as the setting.[2]
“Revolution 909”
The trend continued of Daft Punk recruiting influential directors to lead their videos.
Revolution 909 was the album’s final single and directed by Roman Coppola. Combining a rave with a recipe for making pasta sauce, it’s quite a journey.
“Rollin’ & Scratchin”
This video gets you as close to a pre-robot Daft Punk show as you’ll ever get.
It is dark and bright simultaneously and feels like it should if you were at a live show. It’s also a slow-burning song, unleashing into frenetic body moving beats by the end. It dares you to sit still over the nearly 8-minute auditory adventure.
While it was never a single, it still holds high regard among Daft Punk fans and showed up often in their live shows.
As we celebrate the legacy of Daft Punk with this anniversary, the very least we can do is enjoy this album and be grateful for the time we got with these radical robots.
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