In the place of something remotely clever or Pitchfork related is one tired and very shaken Pitch Perfect. I am relieved to have made it home in one piece and at this point my priority number one is to go to bed. Dialing 911 twice in one night really takes a lot out of a girl.
The evening began with a leisure car u-turning at top speed Dukes of Hazzard style on a two lane highway for what I can only guess was an incredible determination to not miss his exit. Facing traffic head on was apparently not an issue to this stunt driver. No one was hurt but seriously, what the hell?
Playing in my car at the time was The Telescopes cd As Approved by the Committee.
911 # 1
My return trip home began with a Jeep stopped at a light in front of me suddenly throwing their car in reverse and smashing into my car. There was minor bumper damage done to my car, no one was hurt but what was more infuriating was the elder drunk driver calling me Dear and his male friend / co-worker pulling up to the accident and making fun of me for taking down all the insurance information because I am a woman over reacting to a few little scratches which are in fact deep scrapes no less inflicted by a man who has no business being behind the wheel of a vehicle. The police took over 45 minutes to respond so needless to say by the time they called us back looking for the accident, both cars were long gone. I should also mention while this was all going on a car full of men drove by and shouted at me something about not being bad looking for a white girl. Um, thanks.
Playing in my car at the time was the Luiz Eca - Y La Familia Sagrada cd.
911 # 2
Not more than 10 minutes later, now on the highway returning back home, we (me and my fella) watched a car pinball bounce at light speed against the right guardrail twice only to shoot across all three lanes of traffic to the cement divide and scrape against it. We pulled over, dialed 911 looked to the left where the car was stopped to view in horror that A) there appeared to be a violent altercation happening inside the car (we only saw the passenger’s back as he faced the driver and flailed his hands in either panic or rage and B) that the car decided to remain in motion and head towards us, across the three lanes of traffic again. We sped off fearing for our lives and headed towards to the nearest exit because the last thing I wanted to do was share the road with this car no less be hit directly by it. Somehow our 911 call was dropped (stupid cell phones) so we have no idea how this story ends other than us eventually getting back on the road again. We never saw the car again or any sign of police activity so I can’t tell you anything more than that was a terrifying and surreal experience.
The final leg of our journey was a little less dramatic but watching a fresh massive deer carcass be struck by multiple cars offered the kind of blood and guts vision I really really really didn’t need to see.
We drove home in silence listening to Som Imaginario’s – S/T cd and that leads us safely to the here and now.
It is nearly 3 AM and I need to step away from my computer and crawl into bed. I don’t have a review in me tonight. I am very sorry…but at least now you know why.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Melvins / Houdini Live 2005: A Live History of Gluttony and Lust / Rating: 5.7
“But while it is a little interesting to hear the band revisit some of these songs, ultimately these louder, slightly faster versions pale in comparison to the originals, leaving A Live History of Gluttony and Lust far from essential.”
I had to ask (especially as a once upon a time huge fan of the Melvins), was this faux live Melvins record remotely necessary? Reading the below quote from Buzz helped to put the recording into perspective but it still didn’t spell out essential for me and it took only one listen to the record to prove it. A band can explain a record to death; give it great purpose and meaning in an interview but when the music is left alone to speak for itself, Houdini Live 2005 fails to amaze.
Message from Buzz:
"…We figured it was our duty to put this out as a live record since we went to the trouble of RE-LEARNING all of the songs, a third of which we never ever intended to play live. Figuring out HOW to play some of them was problematic but it worked out beautifully. The shows in London and Dublin went great. Unfortunately we didn't hit upon the idea of the live record until after the shows were over. This was a dilemma that could only be remedied by recording another show, and that wasn't easily done. Not only did we have a limited amount of time, locating a suitable venue and assembling the recording equipment was a BITCH. In the end, we couldn't find a venue that would work on such short notice so we rented a warehouse in Vernon, just south of LA, set up the gear and rehearsed all afternoon for our invitation only performance that evening. Then after running through the show twice, we took the tapes to the studio, picked out the best songs of the two sets, mixed them and mastered them onto this CD. DONE! In the exact same order we played them. "
In theory this re-recording of Houdini makes sense but when you start adding up the details, the record’s power and meaning begins to shrink.
This isn’t the real deal audio scrap book recording of their set as it unfolded live at the festival in front of thousands. Instead it is a stiff re-creation minus all the one of a kind energy one would normally get from a band playing in front of an audience.
This is an after thought recording session and it shows but who can blame a band for wanting to cash in on the grueling process of re-learning an entire record from front to back. When the band tells us one third of this material was not meant to be played live, they mean it.
Mixing the best parts from two rehearsal room sets is cheating. This also challenges the idea of what a “live” recording actually means. Not only is this not the actual recording from the All Tomorrow’s show, this isn’t a live (in front of a crowd) performance either.
Sorry Buzz but this is a compiled practice space recording that when pieced together happens to recreate Houdini but not in the original track listing order. Calling it Live 2005 (even though it does rhyme) is false advertising.
Worst of all, this rearranged and extended lackluster “live” version of a classic record doesn’t come close to the cement shower this band pummels their audience with in normal live setting. It's safe to say 99.5% of all Melvins fans will also prefer the original recording of Houdini over this one. I am barely willing to call this new cd a worthy companion piece to the og.
I won’t mess with the Pitchfork rating but I will suggest to any band who likes to put out a record every 6 months that maybe a few of their releases should be a fan club only thing. Think limited. Think only available at the merch table on tour. Make it a download only record or maybe even a limited mail order thing from your web page. Just because you can make art and record it doesn’t mean every stitch of it needs to be shared with the world.
Assuming your fans will dish out money for every little thing you decide to shit out will eventually work against you (besides revealing the size of your ego) but then again the best part about the Melvins is I know they know this and they still don’t give a fuck. Some people might thrive on hate but this band has learned to make a living from it. More power to them, I guess.
Melvins - Fucking you loudly and often since 1984 … because they can.
PS: Why the hell can’t this band keep a bass player around for more than a tour or a recording session?
I had to ask (especially as a once upon a time huge fan of the Melvins), was this faux live Melvins record remotely necessary? Reading the below quote from Buzz helped to put the recording into perspective but it still didn’t spell out essential for me and it took only one listen to the record to prove it. A band can explain a record to death; give it great purpose and meaning in an interview but when the music is left alone to speak for itself, Houdini Live 2005 fails to amaze.
Message from Buzz:
"…We figured it was our duty to put this out as a live record since we went to the trouble of RE-LEARNING all of the songs, a third of which we never ever intended to play live. Figuring out HOW to play some of them was problematic but it worked out beautifully. The shows in London and Dublin went great. Unfortunately we didn't hit upon the idea of the live record until after the shows were over. This was a dilemma that could only be remedied by recording another show, and that wasn't easily done. Not only did we have a limited amount of time, locating a suitable venue and assembling the recording equipment was a BITCH. In the end, we couldn't find a venue that would work on such short notice so we rented a warehouse in Vernon, just south of LA, set up the gear and rehearsed all afternoon for our invitation only performance that evening. Then after running through the show twice, we took the tapes to the studio, picked out the best songs of the two sets, mixed them and mastered them onto this CD. DONE! In the exact same order we played them. "
In theory this re-recording of Houdini makes sense but when you start adding up the details, the record’s power and meaning begins to shrink.
This isn’t the real deal audio scrap book recording of their set as it unfolded live at the festival in front of thousands. Instead it is a stiff re-creation minus all the one of a kind energy one would normally get from a band playing in front of an audience.
This is an after thought recording session and it shows but who can blame a band for wanting to cash in on the grueling process of re-learning an entire record from front to back. When the band tells us one third of this material was not meant to be played live, they mean it.
Mixing the best parts from two rehearsal room sets is cheating. This also challenges the idea of what a “live” recording actually means. Not only is this not the actual recording from the All Tomorrow’s show, this isn’t a live (in front of a crowd) performance either.
Sorry Buzz but this is a compiled practice space recording that when pieced together happens to recreate Houdini but not in the original track listing order. Calling it Live 2005 (even though it does rhyme) is false advertising.
Worst of all, this rearranged and extended lackluster “live” version of a classic record doesn’t come close to the cement shower this band pummels their audience with in normal live setting. It's safe to say 99.5% of all Melvins fans will also prefer the original recording of Houdini over this one. I am barely willing to call this new cd a worthy companion piece to the og.
I won’t mess with the Pitchfork rating but I will suggest to any band who likes to put out a record every 6 months that maybe a few of their releases should be a fan club only thing. Think limited. Think only available at the merch table on tour. Make it a download only record or maybe even a limited mail order thing from your web page. Just because you can make art and record it doesn’t mean every stitch of it needs to be shared with the world.
Assuming your fans will dish out money for every little thing you decide to shit out will eventually work against you (besides revealing the size of your ego) but then again the best part about the Melvins is I know they know this and they still don’t give a fuck. Some people might thrive on hate but this band has learned to make a living from it. More power to them, I guess.
Melvins - Fucking you loudly and often since 1984 … because they can.
PS: Why the hell can’t this band keep a bass player around for more than a tour or a recording session?
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Amy Millan / Honey From the Tombs / Rating: 5.9
“Without the grit to make her twanging strums stick, Millan merely regurgitates country-folk's most obvious characteristics.”
Déjà vu. Weren’t we just talking about Canada or something? At least Pitchfork got the review AND rating right this time. I know some of you might be tempted to check out the record because you are a Broken Social Scene or Stars fan plus she does look pretty darn cute on the cover...but everything the PFM review said is true so the moral of the story is stay clear of this record.
The only thing I care to add to “second-rate whiskey'n'tears-fueled backwoods banalities” is that they neglected to mention Honey From The Tombs is not available domestically in the U.S. yet; in fact it doesn’t hit our streets until August 22nd.
From time to time Pitchfork reviews imports which is fine considering how the whole www. thing works but is it really so difficult to add the word IMPORT and what country it’s from between the label / year of release and the rating?
Amy Millan
Honey From the Tombs
[Arts & Crafts; 2006]
Import; Canada
Rating: 5.9
Now that wasn’t hard at all.
Déjà vu. Weren’t we just talking about Canada or something? At least Pitchfork got the review AND rating right this time. I know some of you might be tempted to check out the record because you are a Broken Social Scene or Stars fan plus she does look pretty darn cute on the cover...but everything the PFM review said is true so the moral of the story is stay clear of this record.
The only thing I care to add to “second-rate whiskey'n'tears-fueled backwoods banalities” is that they neglected to mention Honey From The Tombs is not available domestically in the U.S. yet; in fact it doesn’t hit our streets until August 22nd.
From time to time Pitchfork reviews imports which is fine considering how the whole www. thing works but is it really so difficult to add the word IMPORT and what country it’s from between the label / year of release and the rating?
Amy Millan
Honey From the Tombs
[Arts & Crafts; 2006]
Import; Canada
Rating: 5.9
Now that wasn’t hard at all.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
The Lovely Feathers / Hind Hind Legs / Rating: 7.6
"The Lovely Feathers seem poised for success: They hail from the buzzing indie beehive of Montreal; they're labelmates with Islands on the newly formed Equator Records; hell, they even have a name derived from the animal kingdom and Marcel Dzama-esque illustrations on their album sleeve. But it isn't merely the contemporary cred signifiers that make Lovely Feathers a potential hype band; it's the music.”
Hypothetically speaking: F Canada. F Islands. F indie rock’s obsession with bird and animal names. If we are going to talk music or rather idea of quality music than F The Lovely Feathers and definitely F Pitchfork’s review too.
Sub par bands, even if they are poised to move onto something better next time around do not deserve a 7.6 rating and if you have listened to more than 100 records in your lifetime, you too would hear this record and think maybe a 5. Maybe.
Jangle-funk taking on the identity of a third rate Make-Up minus more than a few IQ points hardly deserves the time for a review. Wacky whiney over dramatic pseudo post punk certainly doesn’t warrant your hard earned dollars or earn the privilege of taking up space in your iTunes library or cd shelf.
If you don’t value your time or money then go ahead, splurge.
Sorry to be so harsh but I am a busy woman who hates to have my time wasted with yet another mediocre record. I want the best for my friends and friends let me tell you… The Lovely Feathers are not it. In fact the best thing I heard all day was the Nacho Libre soundtrack (just watched the movie) and ironically it doesn’t seem to be available on cd.
Wikipedia however does have some hot gossip on the story behind the music in this film. Danny Elfman verse Beck? Yeah you want to read this and while the movie itself isn’t so genius, the music is. Apparently for now at least you won’t be able to hear it any other way other than seeing Nacho Libre for yourself.
Use the money you saved from not buying The Lovely Feathers cd and treat yourself to a movie ticket.
Hypothetically speaking: F Canada. F Islands. F indie rock’s obsession with bird and animal names. If we are going to talk music or rather idea of quality music than F The Lovely Feathers and definitely F Pitchfork’s review too.
Sub par bands, even if they are poised to move onto something better next time around do not deserve a 7.6 rating and if you have listened to more than 100 records in your lifetime, you too would hear this record and think maybe a 5. Maybe.
Jangle-funk taking on the identity of a third rate Make-Up minus more than a few IQ points hardly deserves the time for a review. Wacky whiney over dramatic pseudo post punk certainly doesn’t warrant your hard earned dollars or earn the privilege of taking up space in your iTunes library or cd shelf.
If you don’t value your time or money then go ahead, splurge.
Sorry to be so harsh but I am a busy woman who hates to have my time wasted with yet another mediocre record. I want the best for my friends and friends let me tell you… The Lovely Feathers are not it. In fact the best thing I heard all day was the Nacho Libre soundtrack (just watched the movie) and ironically it doesn’t seem to be available on cd.
Wikipedia however does have some hot gossip on the story behind the music in this film. Danny Elfman verse Beck? Yeah you want to read this and while the movie itself isn’t so genius, the music is. Apparently for now at least you won’t be able to hear it any other way other than seeing Nacho Libre for yourself.
Use the money you saved from not buying The Lovely Feathers cd and treat yourself to a movie ticket.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Mogwai / Mr. Beast / Rating : 6.8
Ladies and Gentlemen please join me in welcoming the newewst addition to the Tuning Fork staff (drum roll please) Outerupt (applaud here). His test review / practice run was so darn impressive that not only did it warrant me posting it ASAP but earned him a permanent place at the TFM table.
Welcome to the family my good man.
"The longest song on Mr. Beast, Mogwai’s fifth studio album, runs 5:46.
The entire LP clocks under 45 minutes. Ordinarily, this isn’t the kind of thing you’d bother pointing out in a record review, but…"
But… But what? If it’s not normally worth mentioning, why pray tell, mention it to me now What’s that? Oh, I see. You aim to criticize Mogwai’s most recent release for being all too brief. I understand. You were so enthralled with the record, really feeling its highs and lows, enjoying the subtle undulations between the glassy melodies and grit-toothed riffage of "Glasgow Mega-Snake", the jackhammer knocks on the drums and playful syncopation of "Folk Death 95," the nuanced interplay of synth and acoustic elements and soaring crescendos of "Friend of the Night," that eerie-soft-bass vocal delivery unfolding under layers of instrumentation in "Travel is Dangerous," and the destructive barn-burning of "We’re No Here" had you feeling pains in places you hadn’t felt since you were 12. And just when you had completely lost yourself in the record, tears just starting to well up, it came to an all too abrupt end. Well, I’d say that’s a reasonable criticism. I mean, who doesn’t get a little upset at the end of a great movie when all the conflicts have been only slightly resolved and the screen goes black and white with the rolling credits, or when a sandwich with just the right amount of mayo, a perfectly ripe tomato, crisp lettuce and freshly sliced roast beef comes down to the final delicious bite? And this record is no different right? You’re left empty, longing for more… Oh no wait… you just want to make some trivial and misguided point about how you like Mogwai when they play tunes that drone on longer than the average Mahler symphony or Bush II state of the union address. You want me to believe that on some art-crit level of objectivity that Mogwai are better when they "let their music breathe, ebb, flow and stretch…" What is this some girly mid-seventies fanzine review of a Lynyrd Skynyrd solo? And since when does PFM like overlong songs? Didn’t Doug Martsch just get lambasted for his noodling on Built to Spill’s recent You in Reverse? (Hmm… yeah they gave that a 6.8 too… weird)? And last, but most crucially, what Mogwai records have you been listening to? I’m unfamiliar with a wealth of releases from this band that extend past the 10-minute mark. In fact, just for fun, lets collect up a few REAL points about this band and it’s history of long players:
1. In the entire career catalog of 5 full-length studio albums from these guys only 3 out of 49 songs has ever exceeded 10 minutes. That’s a little over 6% and not a lot of material to work with for a band that garnered a 9.6 from Pitchfork for their debut album Young Team.
2. While 2 out of those 3 songs are from Young Team, the average song length on that record is still around 6 and a half minutes despite those
2 long tracks taking up around 43% of the record.
3. The average song length for all of the four albums preceding Mr.
Beast is about 5:23.
4. The album with the greatest number of songs over 8 minutes is Come on Die Young, which is the lowest scoring Mogwai release on Pitchfork (6.1).
5. Rock Action scored an 8.0 on Pitchfork and clocks in at 38.5 minutes and has but two songs over 8 minutes and none over 10.
Moment of clarity: This record builds upon the many achievements this band has made since its initial release in 1997, condensing and expanding themes where necessary and presenting ideas with elegance and clarity. If anything, you might fault Mr. Beast for being more polished than earlier releases but hey, what’s so wrong with polish when it sounds this good? And it comes with a DVD. SWEET!
Welcome to the family my good man.
"The longest song on Mr. Beast, Mogwai’s fifth studio album, runs 5:46.
The entire LP clocks under 45 minutes. Ordinarily, this isn’t the kind of thing you’d bother pointing out in a record review, but…"
But… But what? If it’s not normally worth mentioning, why pray tell, mention it to me now What’s that? Oh, I see. You aim to criticize Mogwai’s most recent release for being all too brief. I understand. You were so enthralled with the record, really feeling its highs and lows, enjoying the subtle undulations between the glassy melodies and grit-toothed riffage of "Glasgow Mega-Snake", the jackhammer knocks on the drums and playful syncopation of "Folk Death 95," the nuanced interplay of synth and acoustic elements and soaring crescendos of "Friend of the Night," that eerie-soft-bass vocal delivery unfolding under layers of instrumentation in "Travel is Dangerous," and the destructive barn-burning of "We’re No Here" had you feeling pains in places you hadn’t felt since you were 12. And just when you had completely lost yourself in the record, tears just starting to well up, it came to an all too abrupt end. Well, I’d say that’s a reasonable criticism. I mean, who doesn’t get a little upset at the end of a great movie when all the conflicts have been only slightly resolved and the screen goes black and white with the rolling credits, or when a sandwich with just the right amount of mayo, a perfectly ripe tomato, crisp lettuce and freshly sliced roast beef comes down to the final delicious bite? And this record is no different right? You’re left empty, longing for more… Oh no wait… you just want to make some trivial and misguided point about how you like Mogwai when they play tunes that drone on longer than the average Mahler symphony or Bush II state of the union address. You want me to believe that on some art-crit level of objectivity that Mogwai are better when they "let their music breathe, ebb, flow and stretch…" What is this some girly mid-seventies fanzine review of a Lynyrd Skynyrd solo? And since when does PFM like overlong songs? Didn’t Doug Martsch just get lambasted for his noodling on Built to Spill’s recent You in Reverse? (Hmm… yeah they gave that a 6.8 too… weird)? And last, but most crucially, what Mogwai records have you been listening to? I’m unfamiliar with a wealth of releases from this band that extend past the 10-minute mark. In fact, just for fun, lets collect up a few REAL points about this band and it’s history of long players:
1. In the entire career catalog of 5 full-length studio albums from these guys only 3 out of 49 songs has ever exceeded 10 minutes. That’s a little over 6% and not a lot of material to work with for a band that garnered a 9.6 from Pitchfork for their debut album Young Team.
2. While 2 out of those 3 songs are from Young Team, the average song length on that record is still around 6 and a half minutes despite those
2 long tracks taking up around 43% of the record.
3. The average song length for all of the four albums preceding Mr.
Beast is about 5:23.
4. The album with the greatest number of songs over 8 minutes is Come on Die Young, which is the lowest scoring Mogwai release on Pitchfork (6.1).
5. Rock Action scored an 8.0 on Pitchfork and clocks in at 38.5 minutes and has but two songs over 8 minutes and none over 10.
Moment of clarity: This record builds upon the many achievements this band has made since its initial release in 1997, condensing and expanding themes where necessary and presenting ideas with elegance and clarity. If anything, you might fault Mr. Beast for being more polished than earlier releases but hey, what’s so wrong with polish when it sounds this good? And it comes with a DVD. SWEET!
Thursday, June 22, 2006
El Perro Del Mar/El Perro Del Mar/8.1
These songs are so intent and intense in their misery that it's almost a little funny-- tragedy amplified into comedy.
Rebecca: This is so bad it's almost good.
Enid: This is so bad it's gone past good and back to bad again.
Those two viewpoints pretty much sum up how listeners are going to feel about El Perro Del Mar. Some listeners will find the combination of retro instrumental tracks and simple sentimental lyrics heartwarming. I find myself in a different camp who find the off key singing grating and the minimalism of the songs uninviting. If you’re looking for something retro and charming, I’d steer you in many other directions.
With new releases by Camera Obscura, Tilly and the Wall and Pipettes, how did 2006 become the Summer of Twee? I don’t mind retro flavored pop, but I tend to partake only on occasion. It’s like Bubble Tea – I enjoy the novelty and the flavor, but don’t drink it on a daily basis (even though I live in walking distance of such an establishment). I also appreciate that influence of 60’s girl groups on the current batch of these artists– the combination of Brill building songwriters, revolutionary production gurus and gifted singers created timeless pop. Artists who try to fill those shoes have to bring at least some combination of those talents to the table. Camera Obscura have songwriting on their side. The Pipettes have the attitude. Tilly and the Wall…well, they have a tap dancer. El Perro Del Mar has some momentarily great production, but the songwriting and singing don’t measure up.
Too many of the songs seems to consist of Assbring cooing the same lyrics over and over and over. On the opening track “Candy”, she squeezes what little flavor exists in the line “I’m going for to get me some candy” while delivering the last part of the line out of pitch (though somehow, the background vocals are spot on). Maybe this is what Ashlee Simpson would sound like unprocessed, but I still wouldn’t want to hear these vocals (though the idea of a clandestine Ashlee Simpson twee project intrigues me). Some folks may find her girlish voice charming; for most of the tracks, it’s hard for me to hear. Besides, if I want to hear teenage girls singing, I can listen to the real deal on Smoosh’s latest.
There are a couple of tracks that work for me, “Coming Down The Hill” and “It’s All Good”. "Coming Down the Hill" has stronger vocal and the repetition of the lyrics sound more like a soul tune than improvised lyrics. "It’s All Good" picks up the temp and again overcomes the simple lyrics with style and sass. Duesner picked up on the appeal of the final track “Here Comes That Feeling” and I have to agree that that cut hooked me as well. However, three tracks are a single, not an LP. Enjoying these tracks as a digital download may be the best way to go (and if you find these tracks too sweet and cloying, stay away from the rest).
Maybe liking El Perro Del Mar is some shibboleth for true hipsterism; it’s on the hard to find Memphis Industries label and sounds like an quirky find after an afternoon of crate diving. If so, fail me as a simple music fan who prefers better songwriting and stronger vocals. El Perro Del Mar’s strange combination of retro charm and intense despair begs for the invention of new genres – Twee-Doom? Twee-Violence? Dark-Twee? However, this invention of micro-genres feels a lot like giving out ribbons at an elementary school track meet – Best Sportsmanship goes to Antwon Belling, Best Dark-Twee song goes to Sarah Assbring. The CD doesn’t quite succeed in any way music typically works, so you have to create new criteria for good music to enjoy it. If you’re looking for something different, El Perro Del Mar is different – however, not necessarily in an appealing way. I’d give this record something in upper fives and advise fans looking to satisfy their sweet tooth to look elsewhere.
Rebecca: This is so bad it's almost good.
Enid: This is so bad it's gone past good and back to bad again.
Those two viewpoints pretty much sum up how listeners are going to feel about El Perro Del Mar. Some listeners will find the combination of retro instrumental tracks and simple sentimental lyrics heartwarming. I find myself in a different camp who find the off key singing grating and the minimalism of the songs uninviting. If you’re looking for something retro and charming, I’d steer you in many other directions.
With new releases by Camera Obscura, Tilly and the Wall and Pipettes, how did 2006 become the Summer of Twee? I don’t mind retro flavored pop, but I tend to partake only on occasion. It’s like Bubble Tea – I enjoy the novelty and the flavor, but don’t drink it on a daily basis (even though I live in walking distance of such an establishment). I also appreciate that influence of 60’s girl groups on the current batch of these artists– the combination of Brill building songwriters, revolutionary production gurus and gifted singers created timeless pop. Artists who try to fill those shoes have to bring at least some combination of those talents to the table. Camera Obscura have songwriting on their side. The Pipettes have the attitude. Tilly and the Wall…well, they have a tap dancer. El Perro Del Mar has some momentarily great production, but the songwriting and singing don’t measure up.
Too many of the songs seems to consist of Assbring cooing the same lyrics over and over and over. On the opening track “Candy”, she squeezes what little flavor exists in the line “I’m going for to get me some candy” while delivering the last part of the line out of pitch (though somehow, the background vocals are spot on). Maybe this is what Ashlee Simpson would sound like unprocessed, but I still wouldn’t want to hear these vocals (though the idea of a clandestine Ashlee Simpson twee project intrigues me). Some folks may find her girlish voice charming; for most of the tracks, it’s hard for me to hear. Besides, if I want to hear teenage girls singing, I can listen to the real deal on Smoosh’s latest.
There are a couple of tracks that work for me, “Coming Down The Hill” and “It’s All Good”. "Coming Down the Hill" has stronger vocal and the repetition of the lyrics sound more like a soul tune than improvised lyrics. "It’s All Good" picks up the temp and again overcomes the simple lyrics with style and sass. Duesner picked up on the appeal of the final track “Here Comes That Feeling” and I have to agree that that cut hooked me as well. However, three tracks are a single, not an LP. Enjoying these tracks as a digital download may be the best way to go (and if you find these tracks too sweet and cloying, stay away from the rest).
Maybe liking El Perro Del Mar is some shibboleth for true hipsterism; it’s on the hard to find Memphis Industries label and sounds like an quirky find after an afternoon of crate diving. If so, fail me as a simple music fan who prefers better songwriting and stronger vocals. El Perro Del Mar’s strange combination of retro charm and intense despair begs for the invention of new genres – Twee-Doom? Twee-Violence? Dark-Twee? However, this invention of micro-genres feels a lot like giving out ribbons at an elementary school track meet – Best Sportsmanship goes to Antwon Belling, Best Dark-Twee song goes to Sarah Assbring. The CD doesn’t quite succeed in any way music typically works, so you have to create new criteria for good music to enjoy it. If you’re looking for something different, El Perro Del Mar is different – however, not necessarily in an appealing way. I’d give this record something in upper fives and advise fans looking to satisfy their sweet tooth to look elsewhere.
I blame the heat.
Hey Mr. Columbus, MS can you please email me or leave a comment here and let me know if you got my mix cd. I can't remember if I mailed yours out before you sent along yours. Crap. Sorry about that.
thanks,
Pitch Perfect
thanks,
Pitch Perfect
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