Kinsella has made a whole landfill's worth of extremely unique music that has passion on its side but little else.
So many zings so little time.
PFM ends their review with: “Do I really need to spell out that anyone who never liked Kinsella in the first place shouldn't bother with this? As relatively direct as it is, Shock of Being is still hideously overwrought. On the other hand, Kinsella's past fans aren't going to be stepping off the wagon here, either, so the album doesn't really advance the plot on either front. Rather, it's just another bizarre curio from a guy who, as much as I'd like to root for him, can't seem to make a record I want to listen to more than once.”
As much as I would love to believe there is at least one Pitchfork staff member secretly rooting for the underdog among the enemy camp, excuse the pun but this impossible concept seems genuinely make believe to me.
I include myself among the many who firmly believe Tim Kinsella hasn’t released anything ground breaking since Cap’n Jazz but Shock of Being offers the first genuine glimmer in FOREVER that there still is hope for Tim. There are decent songs snuck in between the “disjointed, pretentious, and frequently unlistenable” ones. “One Zero”, “Fumio Nambata Had a Farm”, and “Boom! Sounds like Hiss from the Inside” are windows that reveal something dare I call talent.
If PFM thinks a bad TK record is ultimately predictable, try being a regular Pitchfork reader. Yet another crap review for Kinsella? Now that’s predictable. I will take failed visionary over safe hand me down reviews / reruns any day.
