N*E*R*D, Nothing
Star Trak/Interscope
N*E*R*D’s hipster cred dissipated after its widely hailed In Search of N*E*R*D However, Pharrell, Chad Hugo and Shay are still capable of delightfully quirky adventures. On Nothing, they offer a poetic abstraction modeled after the Doors (“Help Meâ€), an earnest meditation on the environment and “Life as a Fish,†and winsome jazz-rock melodies that were once inspired by Steely Dan but are now the band’s trademark. N*E*R*D built its name on clubby come-ons, and it makes a few valiant attempts here (“Hypnotize Uâ€), but those seem perfunctory in the midst of Nothing’s studious creativity.
