Jay's May Stupidity

Donna The Buffalo – Starts out with a very good first song, a bit too close to Nashville to be considered great, but if the rest of the album lived up to this, I’d love it. Unfortunately the good stuff fades, however slowly, throughout the album, as the country gives way to softened zydeco and reggae beats. I love her voice, but it’s not there enough. Album rebounds with the last song, not surprisingly a more country sounding cut. Mostly enjoyable, I’ll still give it a 3 even though I wish it were more country

Okkervil River – Had always heard of this band and was excited to listen, probably too excited, because the first listen left me dismayed, his voice just too much of a distraction to hear the melodies. Subsequent listens, though, revealed that these guys can write melodies with such skill that they often disappear and reappear in different forms with in the same songs. Yeah, the guy has an annoying voice at times and it can be tough to overcome, but good writing is good writing, and this has it. I couldn’t always make out the lyrics, but he happens to be a fairly evocative singer and the emotion works well with the songs. 3.5

Arctic Monkeys – A nearly flawless pop album that actually lives up to the hype. Some bands just get it. And when one comes along that does, it almost defies explanation. But I'll try. Great music, fun, sometimes almost poignant, lyrics delivered with the kind of raw, amateurish enthusiasm that defines great pop and rock music. Some bands can sound like they’re trying too hard, but these guys have a natural feeling - like they are just letting it happen. Yeah, he writes about the travails of the club/love scene a bit too much, but when you can do it as directly and simply as they do without sounding like whiney wankers, then that’s only a minor complaint. 4.5 because nobody gets a 5 on the first try.

Echo and the Bunnymen – I never really got these guys and I always considered them pussies, just like every other droning, wimpy post punk british keyboard/strings/acoustic guitar driven band not named Joy division. Maybe I was being too harsh. This is slightly more interesting than I thought it would be and a touch less poppy, although the songs are catchy to a degree. I can’t say that I get it – or particularly like it – it’s pretty lightweight – but it doesn’t offend me like other stuff I’ve heard or just imagined I’d heard by them. 2, but they get a half point off for their name so it goes to 1.5

The Police – This package can be broken up into three parts The hits, the early rock non hits and the slower non-hits that I have to assume are from albums after Regatta de Blanc. First – the hits. You gotta admit, they had great hits. Even after they stopped rocking and started sucking the hits were still great. The non hit rockers are good. Only a couple here, but they were pleasant surprises and sounded slightly familiar. The rest – only about 3 songs – sounded like a band trying to expand its horizons and not really having the talent. Or maybe it just got to the point where they were no longer a band, just Sting and a couple of guys who hated his guts. Those three segments of songs pretty much define the Police in my mind. 10-12 great songs, some exuberant rockers and the kind of boring drivel that Sting now turns out in bunches.





Comments

Let’s be clear about where I stand. I have flawless taste in rock music and you guys don’t. I mean, you all get it right more than occasionally, but some of your opinions are just impossible to defend without using phrases like “temporary insanity,” “just coming off the meds” or “I thought the phenobarbitol would stop the voices in my head, how did I know it know it would make want to listen to Echo and the Bunnymen.” You all have issues and the following only scratches the surface, but let's get to it. Jenn – What’s with all this crazy new music you like? In ten years, you’ll look back at it in embarrassment the way I did ten year after my Elvin Bishop/ Barefoot Jerry phase. And Ken – 5 for Tonight’s the Night - OK; 5 for Let it Bleed – OK. But the same score for a J Giels band live album that isn’t named Full House?! And Byron – well what can I say. Two words – the Plague. Two more - Spock’s Beard. And D’Arcy – Enough already with the britrock! And I understand that you don’t like Sonic Youth, I forgive you, but a 5 for U Fuckin O and ditto for the Waterboys. And Mike, what’s the deal with your unhealthy fascination with late 70’s punk. How the fuck can you like that, which is admirable, and still like a half assed Irish band like the Saw Doctors or , even worse, Steely Dan – oh wait that’s not Mike, that's me. Never mind. Memo to Mike M – You can’t complain about the production values of a great guitar record like Electric Mudd and then wax eloquent about Guided by Voices in the next breath. And I wont’ even bring up the who NY Dolls thing other than to say you’re just plain wrong. And speaking of Mikes…Hey it’s easy to hand out zeros when you’re 1,500 miles away, but you can't hand out zeroes and be taken seriously when you also think an overrated record like Seconds of Pleasure is a half a point away from Let it Bleed. Shit, I can name two Nick Lowe Records and 3 Dave Edmunds records better than Seconds of Pleasure. And finally there his beer-spewing Midwestern partner in crime, the guy who thinks there is more value to a Marillion record than Neil Young’s best album. Might be too early to tell where your tastes fall, but that’s a bad first step and it was Neil - after all - who decided to introduce this dopey, decidedly non-musical, question. But hey.... thanks for the kind words about me!

Bottom line is that, when all is said and done, we all have warts. Although - let's be honest - some of your warts are bigger and more unsightly than others! Anyway, that's what mkes the group so enjoyable and unpredictable.