“On The Dark Side, Oh-Yea-eee-yah!”

The Mong
Music Group CommentaryAugust 2008

NEIL DIAMOND – “HOT AUGUST NIGHT” = 2.5 STARS
Always more of a drunken bar scene or late-night party sing-a-long kitsch-pleasure than anything else, I can’t help but file Mr. Diamond under any category other than silly-time, fun music. Although I can appreciate “Hot August Night” on other levels when using a discerning ear, this stuff being more-or-less bulletproof doesn’t change that too much of it, all at once, almost defeats its own purpose.

THE DUKE SPIRIT – “NEPTUNE” = 2.5 STARS
I’m not jumping up and down about “Neptune” but it’s not bad either. I’d definitely recommend it to someone with taste like Ken or D’Arcey’s.

THE HOLD STEADY – “STAY POSITIVE” = 2 STARS
Since I like so many artists who, arguably, don’t really have great singing voices, I find it odd that can’t get by this guy’s voice. Or maybe it’s the singer and his band’s overall Eddie and the Cruisers vibe that I can’t get past. There’s a lot here to praise, the lyrics in particular; yet, even with their equally praiseworthy bar band energy, the Hold Steady somehow feels old and tired.

WHISKEYTOWN – “STRANGERS ALMANAC” = 3 STARS
A bit more country than ‘alt’ for my taste, “Strangers Almanac” is still a solid record that’s surprisingly better than most alt-country being recorded today.

G’HITS – SLOBBERBONE
Another band I’ve only heard of, I’m glad to say that now I’ve heard them. A bit of bar band and alt-country overload this month (including Neil Diamond – see commentary) has probably left me a bit resistant to this, the last of what I delved into since the last gathering, so my overall less-than-thrilled take on it might change with repeated listenings, in a different context.

TOPIC
Monsta Topic: “List your five favorite lyricists and give a brief explanation as to why they're on your list. Note that the question is YOUR FAVORITE, not necessarily the "best". No point in everybody putting Dylan, Springsteen and Neil Young on the list. D'Arcy rule in effect, no honorable mentions.”

STEPHEN MALKMUS (primarily) of Pavement and SM (& The Jicks)
The king of slacker ironic sincerity, Malkmus’ word play and keen sense of humor lets him have his cake and eat it too. So even though he would probably reject his own relevance, he is indeed a voice of his generation (my generation) whose lyrics embody the duality of our reactionary sarcasm, cynicism, and apathy, while simultaneously interweaving our diehard earnestness, optimism, and caring.

ROBERT POLLARD (primarily) of Guided by Voices and Robert Pollard
Although Pollard’s lyrics favor nonsensical imagery over literal meaning, the worlds he creates with words are nothing short of poetic genius.

MATTHEW SWEET
Sweet’s sensitive stream-of-consciousness, white boy laments on life, relationships, identity, expectations, and all things existential impart beauty through his pain and (sometimes) even humor in its self-awareness, which is easy (for this white boy) to identify with through the filter of universal truths and shared experiences.

THE BEASTIE BOYS (collectively)
No one rocks the mic better than Mike D., King Ad-Rock, and MCA! The instant joy ill-communicated by their consistently inventive and hilarious mad rhyming skills more than makes up for their occasional sidesteps into heavy-handed sociopolitical raps.

JOHN LENNON of the Beatles and John Lennon (and Plastic Ono Band, etc.)
Lennon is possibly the single lyricist who I can attribute every ounce of praise and multi-layered-ness that I’ve heaped upon the aforementioned artists; so, for the sake of avoiding redundancies, I’ll leave it at that.

August Host Post

The Duke Spirit – This one is really well done once the horrid 40 seconds that open the disc are past. The vocalist alternately sounds like Bjork and 60’s-era Grace Slick, which somehow works. Band has great chops throughout, and the tastefully placed horns are an excellent touch. The songs are varied enough to hold my interest, and well written. I also appreciated the clean sound. 3.5 stars

The Hold Steady – If “Boys and Girls in America” was their “Born to Run”, then this is their “Darkness on the Edge of Town”. The hangover from the “chill-out tents” and “party pits” of the last disc are full-blown. Sutures and bruises, date rape accusations, college girls “getting nailed against dumpsters behind townie bars” and at least two deaths show up in the songs. Musically, the tracks are also a little rougher around the edges, notably the guitar work, yet still built around that classic E-Street sound. “Sequestered in Memphis” is the song of the year. An exceptional disc that shows significant growth from a band that keeps getting better. 4.5 stars

Neil Diamond – Take a good look at the cover of this disc. (Ken, please insert visual aid here) Now, if Neil wants to pantomime a little self-gratification in front of 15,000 people, more power to him. Not my cup of tea mind you, but different strokes (pun absolutely intended) for different folks, right? What I have a problem with here is a lack of truth in advertising. Let’s face it, there is no way in hell “little Neil” is that big. Remember, Diamond is Jewish, so he’s minus a couple to start with. While product misrepresentation vis-à-vis the size of Neil’s kielbasa is a valid charge, there’s no disputing that the cover sums up the performance rendered on the disc(s) perfectly. “Hot August Nights” is a grossly exaggerated self-love fest.

There is no denying that Mr. Diamond has written some great songs (“Crackling’ Rose, “Solitary Man”, etc). The inherent problem with this disc is that he insists on singing them. Diamond’s over-the-top drama king vocals are delivered with either a fake sincerity or such an incredible delusion of grandeur (I can’t decide which) that it borders on parody. Worse, the arrangements are so schmaltzy, Vegas-nightclub ridden that it renders even the good songs unlistenable. Truly awful from start to finish. .5 stars

Whiskeytown – “Strangers Almanac” defines alternative country, and is the best album in the genre that was not made by Uncle Tupelo. The lyrics have the raw emotion of the best country music, and there are intermittent bursts of twangy guitar that rock like “Exile”-era Stones. Ryan Adams’ playing, songwriting and vocals are stunning. “Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart Tonight” remains his best work. 4.5 stars

Slobberbone – The most tragically underrated band ever. Brent Best has an uncanny ability to mesh dark observations on the human condition with ridiculously catchy melodies and great guitar work. “I Can Tell Your Love is Waning” is one of the greatest murder songs ever, and “Gimmie Back My Dog” gets at least an honorable mention in the best breakup song category. Lots of drinkin’, killin’ & twangin’ throughout & a Bee-Gees cover to boot. A damn fine compilation if I do say so myself.

Question

In no particular order…

Randy Newman – Most versatile lyricist there is. His songs are stinging in their irony and unabashedly sentimental, and he leaves the listener to decide ones which are which. A smart-ass after my own heart.

Warren Zevon – Equally versatile. Mixes Hunter Thomson-esque tales with wry, romantic material.

Paul Westerberg – The world’s most cynical romantic or most romantic cynic. Either way, a great one.

Mike Cooley (Drive By Truckers) – The white trash poet laureate. Brilliant character studies and stories of the South.

Pete Townshend – His work speaks for itself, though lyrically, I prefer his solo material to The Who

I'm a Believer in the Jazz Singer; My Reviews with Love On the Rocks

August Music Club

Neil Diamond- Hot August Night

I do expect to bitch slapped- but…. At one time this was the high water mark for live albums, until Frampton Comes Alive. It still gets the occasional mention. I was weened on Neil Diamond as a kid so I am sure I am brainwashed slightly, but I have always felt that he is forgotten as songwriter and he should be in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

With all that said, sure Diamond is of late considered Mr. Rhinestone Shlock. But go back to 1972 and he was a young, emotive, vibrant pop artist who was just becoming a mega-star. This recording has many of his biggest hits and damn if you weren’t at least humming a couple; “Cherry Cherry”, “Sweet Caroline”, ”Cracklin Rosie”, “Solitary Man”, “Kentucky Woman”. It also has the best version of “Red, Red Wine” ever done. Yes there are a few weepy, dull ballads but the last 3 songs- “Holly Holy”, “ I Am…I Said” and “Soolaimon/Brother Love” (side 4 on vinyl) are pretty damn good. I am expecting to stand alone, but I will with pride. (4)

Whiskeytown- Strangers Almanac

Not being a huge Ryan Adams follower, I didn’t hold too much promise here. I will admit though, that this was not as dreadful as I expected. The first third held my interest with good melodies and variety from country to rock, but as the disc rambled on the songs became more spotty and more monotone. Won’t run out to get more but this one I’ll keep. (3)

Hold Steady- Stay Positive

Not “Boys and Girl in America” even though this one tries to be the sequel. The songs are solid, but they sound forced. Forced edge, forced into their last release’s formula, forced big refrains. Sometimes a band finds a sound and they can embrace it and make it sound fresh each time- that is not the case here. They seem to be delving deeper into E Street Band world. “Sequestered in Memphis”, ”Joke About Jamaica”, “Slapped Actress” are strong and the best songs are thrown into an unnamed medley at the end. (2.5)

Duke Spirit- Neptune

Sinead O’Connor, Grace Slick and Siouxie Sue- not a bad blend for a lead singer. Throw in an occasional buzz saw guitar, damn good drumming and meaty hook for measure and you got a pretty good disc. Lost a little on the 2^nd listen, but that much. Would have been a 4 star EP. (3)

Slobberbone- Best Of

When Monsta sent me some Slobberbone last year I was either constipated or just being persnickety. I owe him a big mea culpa. This was my most listened to disc this month. Right up the ol’ alley; offbeat songs about being drunk, in love, in hate and being pious.

Favorite Lyricists

There are many great lyricists, but their lyrics lose a little when taken away from the music. I selected my favorites based on proving that wrong, in my opinion.

Bob Dylan- I’m stating the obvious since y’all know me well enough by now. But the man almost invented and perfected the “fuck you” stanza not to mention creating imagery that has been emulated since the early 60s. “I just wish one time you stand inside my shoes, to see what a drag is to see you.”

David Lowery- A total perceptive, intelligent, self deprecating wiseass. Stories about losers who you can relate to and their mishaps which are believable. All wrapped up in a humor sandwich. “I see the light at the end of the tunnel, someone please tell me it’s not a train.”

Patterson Hood- Pain, drugs, booze and loss- oh and rock n roll. A down home boy version of Lowery with less humor and more despair, but no less on mark. “let him stand in my shoes and see how it feels, to lose the last thing on Earth that is real”

Stephen Merritt- The Cole Porter of our time. Pop songs about all aspects of life with unexpected language, rhymes and imagery. “My hearts running ‘round like a chicken with it’s head cut off, around the barnyard falling in and out of love.”

August Stuff

Whiskeytown - The heir apparent to Uncle Tupelo as the kings of the country side of alt country music. This CD is the reason I still buy every CD that Ryan Adams releases. I keep hoping he’ll re-discover the magic he had on this nearly perfect disc. Great writing, great playing and he’s as soulful a singer on this record as he’s ever been. This is what Gram parsons had in mind when he began writing rock songs that sounded like country songs. 4.5

Duke Spirit – I know that there was/is considerable hype surrounding this band, but, in this case anyway, the hype was deserved. Of course I like the rockers more than the slower songs and there are some missteps here, but she makes the missteps tolerable with good singing and in general, the songs are short enough that the mistakes quickly pass. And there are only a couple of those anyway. I bet they would be a fun live band. 4

The Hold Steady - Again, much hype surrounding this release as it got rave reviews from nearly everybody. And the reviews are right. Musically, it branches out without losing the hard edge their earlier material had and the themes have matured as well. Not that they are any more evocative than they have been in the past, he just seems to be singing about the difficulty of being a grown up rather than growing up. 4

Neil Diamond – Majestic and overblown, dramatic and clichéd all at the same time. And that’s just the prologue! Everything about this attempts to be bigger than life and to some degree it is, but I bet this was better to have been there rather than just listen to it. All the hits are here, but I’m not so sure they live up to the original studio recordings. Pleasant enough – I mean he had a lot of hits and they are great – but not the tour de force that I think they were going for. And it all falls apart at the end with the woeful Soolaimon and whatever that thing was after it. And what's with the cover? Who approved that? Still a 3 because 3/5 of it are classic all-time hits.

Slobberbone – They put the alt in alt country. Brent Best and crew are second only to alt country gods Uncle Tupelo in my Americana hierarchy. Billy Pritchard and Your Love is Waning are two of the most harrowing songs of all time and they also rock. Great songs, great guitar work, simply a great band. And nobody writes and sings about drinking better than these guys. Thankfully Brent Best still delivers with the Drams, his new band, but it will never be like this and that’s too bad.

Lyricists

Chris Collingwood/Adam Schlesinger - Equally adept at clever tales of modern living, offbeat looks at life and love and even the occasional wistful ballad. They have to be good if Robbie Fulks wrote a song called Fountains of Wayne Hotline in which he imagined a hotline bands could call for songwriting help.

Jeffrey Hyman, AKA Joey Ramone – The Hemingway of rock. Nobody said more by saying so little. And nobody (not even Dictator Andy Shernoff) ever wrote stuff funnier than this:

Sitting here in Queens
Eating refried beans
We’re in all the magazines
Gulping down thorazines
We ain’t got no friends
Our troubles never end
No Christmas cards to send
Daddy likes men.

Andy Shernoff – Nobody knows how to walk the line between reverence and satire like the Dictator’s Shernoff. Funny and knowing in an adult way without sounding too adult. Here's an example - the opening line of Master Race Rock from their first album

Hippies are squares with long hair
And they don’t wear no underwear.

In 1975, with the music business still essentially controlled by hippies, it was pretty astute to note that the hippie movement was over because they had simply become what they allegedly despised. Hippies (and the music industry) had indeed become squares. And to make matters worse (and to make the line funny) they didn’t wear underwear. Brilliant.

And who else in rock music would derisively reference the book Heather Has Two Mommies in a song about the present state of our culture?

Bob Dylan – Quite simply the most interesting rock Lyricist ever. And while I don’t always get his imagery, you can always tell what he means and where he’s going with it. In other words, you don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows.

Brent Best – You listened to the proof this month (Slobberbone) and if you didn’t get it, I’m sorry. He can be funny, witty, clever, evocative, harrowing and writes great songs about drinking.

Hot August Reviews

Whiskeytown – Strangers Almanac - 2.5
I have to say that I kept waiting for an exciting song, finally “Waiting to Derail” came on. This was the pace that I felt worked best for the band. I did enjoy the music for the most part. I could have don’t without the slide guitar. It’s not a bad cd for having in the background music while cooking dinner, but otherwise nothing about the album really blew me away.

The Hold Steady – Stay Positive - 2
At first I thought this was an old Springsteen album. The I thought it was Randy Newman, and then Elvis Costello and lastly Jakob Dylan. It’s not that I didn’t like the band, I just didn’t hear anything too original. I don’t like thinking of other bands when I listen to a cd.

The Duke Spirit – Neptune – 4
Now here’s an original cd. I thought that every song offered something exciting. I like bands with female vocalists and this one is more than capable of belting one out. She had a little Johnette Napolitano but with a little better range. There wasn’t one song on this that I didn’t like for one reason or another.

Neil Diamond – Hot August Nights – 3
I’m a Red Sox fan and if I never hear Sweet Caroline again it would be okay, but in general and with few other exceptions, Neil Diamond is a really talented guy. A lot of the song remind me of when I was a kid, but “Play Me” and “I am I Said” are just really cool songs, now or thirty years ago. Neil Diamond is a classic.

Slobberbone – The Best of Slobberbone – 2
I thought this band was creative at least lyrically, but beyond that they just didn’t do it for me. I guess I wanted to hear more than just a straight forward borderline country bar band. I bet they’d be a really good REM cover band.


List your five favorite lyricists and give a brief explanation as to why they're on your list. Note that the question is YOUR FAVORITE, not necessarily the “best”.

Tom Waits – Off the wall lyrics that speak to me and make me laugh aloud. I don’t think I’m alone.
Maynard James Keenen – Creepy metaphors about aliens and religion, does it get any better?
Roger Waters – Issues from this guy’s past I think helped make some of the most creatively written songs yet. Dark and honest, he doesn’t even seem to care if he makes a hit or not.
Peter Gabriel – He’s written about Flies on a windshield and Giant Hogweed and Stephen Biko. He’s not only creative he’s a showman.
Jack White – I know there are a lot of unique writers out there but when I heard The Hardest Button to Button, I was hooked on his lyrics.