Biographies of current music groups tend to be of the cut-and-paste variety, stretched-thin magazine feature treatments meant to cash in on the of-the-minute act on MTV. Rarely do I assign these titles, not because I’m sticking my nose up at their low literary quality, but because I believe they often fall into the realm of our sister publication, School Library Journal. Kids and YAs, more so than “mature” fans, are more likely in my estimation to devour something like Marc Spitz’s forthcoming Nobody Likes You: Inside the Turbulent Life, Times, and Music of Green Day (Hyperion).

Then along comes a curious animal, indeed, a music biography that breaks and bends all the stereotypes: Gorillaz: Rise of the Ogre (Riverhead). As our always dead-on Matthew Moyer put it in his upcoming review (check the Nov. 15th issue), “[This] book is equal parts graphic novel, design catalog, and spoof of Stephen Davis’s Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zepplin Saga….”

This book’s winningness is not surprising given the band that inspired it. Gorrilaz, for those not in the know, is one of the more interesting bands to form in the last five years, a literal (if I may use the term) cartoon band dreamed up by illustrator Jamie Hewlett of Tank Girl fame and singer Damon Albarn of the English band Blur. In 2001, they scored a massive single with “Clint Eastwood” and continue to be successful with their latest album, Demon Days. That Hewlett and Albarn have produced a book to realize their vision of a multicultural musical utopia further says something wonderful about my favorite piece of media—books equal authenticity and staying power maybe more so than the hottest CD. Long after Russel Hobbs, Noodle, Murdoc, and 2D lose their Midas touch and break up, their book will survive on library shelves as a testament to their inventiveness and impact.