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Shona
Winfrey
Capsule
Reviews:
Part II:
November,
2001
Scroll
down for the latest from Sugarbuzz, Remy Zero, Sloan, Super
Furry Animals and Jamiroquai. Click
here for the latest from Charlatans (UK), Ken Stringfellow
and Motorpsycho.
Eels
Souljacker
Dreamworks Records
www.eelstheband.com
Released Fall, 2001
Ya never know what you're gonna get with this guy…or these guys. This
is no exception. The first two tracks alone make it worth the purchase
price. The only reason it didn't get a full length review is that the
reviewer can't tap into a dictionary of descriptive terms vast enough
to do the recording full justice.
The
record is never boring. Perhaps its bounty of styles preclude pigeon holing
it. Souljacker bounces wildly between hardcore programming on some
tracks, and straight forward pop songs on others. Sometimes bitterly funny
:"Dogfaced Boy"; sometimes simply funny :"That's Not Really Funny", with
it's programmed, abrasive lounge music backdrop; often more rock and roll
than anything else the band has ever done: the title track, parts I and
II, and "Teenage Witch", and occasionally only very pretty and charming:
"Fresh Feeling", which despite its title is not about soap or anti-perspirant,
but rather, is a love song. Other songs encapsulate the vibe of hip-hop,
isolated folk ballads, and funky dance tunes.
Hard to believe, but then again, it is Mark Everett steering this particular
ship. Anyone who has kept up with the Eels catalog and his solo output
shouldn't really be professing any surprise at this point. Highly recommended
for fans of eclectic, stereotype-and-envelope bursting music.
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Sugarbomb
Bully
RCA Records
www.sugarbomb.net
Released Fall, 2001
A lot of buzz has surrounded this five piece from Dallas, including rumors
that this album was the great comeback of former Jellyfish frontman Andy
Sturmer. All the hullabaloo may be due to the fact that the band nails
the sound of Jellyfish better than any other band since Jellyfish themselves.
I received a copy of their album Tastes Like Sugar from another
Dallas musician around two years ago and it's been an oft-spun fave. A
lot of material from that record ends up on Bully, re-engineered and re-produced
to good effect.
The filler from the former has been lost and new material added, including
the delightful title track. I am happy to report that both "Mailorder
Girlfriend" and "Motor Mouth" remain, along with "What A Drag", "Over",
"Waiting" (more Imperial Drag than Jellyfish, and just as much fun), and
"After All". I much preferred the old version of "Mailorder Girlfriend"
with its over the top Queenesque backing vocals. Still, these guys have
the goods. Their songs are always hooky and infectious---stick in your
brain like a wad of freshly chewed bubble gum sticks to the bottom of
your shoe on a hot day.
A must for Jellyfish fans, a near-must for pop fans who like their harmonies
tight and more power than pop in their pop. Worth the effort of tracking
down if it cannot be located easily, it packs a zero-disappointment factor.
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Remy
Zero
The Golden Hum
Elektra Entertainment/Warner Bros.
www.remyzero.com
Released Fall, 2001
Produced and mixed by Jack Joseph Puig. It must be "Six Degrees of Jellyfish"
time.
In
spring of 1999, I reviewed Remy Zero's Villa Elaine. This album
walks all over that one, and that is some kind of feat. This ain't no
pop record, people. It's melodic hard-rock. At least for the most part.
This band makes beautiful, sometimes haunting, often soul-piercing music.
This does not relegate the band nor the record to the emo-core genre.
Rarely depressing, frequently affecting is a better description.
Stand
out tracks are "In/Out", "Save Me", "Belong" and the closer "Impossibility".
Strangely, Remy Zero sounds best when their vocalist sounds paradoxically
hopeful and angst-ridden, simultaneously. The real stunner on this album
is track number eight, "Over the Rails and Hollywood High", where the
band's playing is sheer perfection, with a brilliant bassline and a very
retro-sounding but very short guitar solo. This is followed by an instrumental
solo that leads into the next number, "Smile". "Smile" is like a whispered
scream----alternately rocking, then cool and calm.
Remy
Zero are tight. If you're looking for an escape from the sugar coated,
and want an alternative, here's a good start.
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Sloan
Pretty Together
Murderecords
www.sloanmusic.com
Released October, 2001
It didn't get a full length review because the reviewer is having some
trouble "getting into it". Sloan seem to be growing less and less accessible
with every subsequent release. Their lyrics are less and less clever,
they rock out more and more. The first track sounds for all the world
that it will morph into Aerosmith's "Back In The Saddle", and the second
track sounds as if it were recorded over the intro to "Won't Get Fooled
Again" or "Baba O'Reilly".
For the unitiated, here's a little guide to Sloan: they are a household
word in Canada They have a cultish fanbase in the US and abroad. Non-fans
appear to hate them. All four write and sing lead. They're famous or infamous
for instrument swapping at live shows. Their drummer can't sing very well.
Ahem. Their piano is out of tune. Some of their records sound decidedly
lo-fi. One of them said that he thought an AM car radio was the perfect
medium for listening to Navy Blues, their fourth album.
Now,
there are lyrics included. The reviewer is stunned. Chris Murphy, Sloan's
very affable bass player and unofficial resident frontman, has lost his
spectacles. And is penning songs like "The Other Man". This is the same
guy who blessed us all with "Underwhelmed". No one can turn a clever phrase
as well as Murphy and do it as consistently, so I wonder why he's stopped.
Alright, he still has the vocabulary intact, but some of us would rather
see him pose and posture. He's become very serious, and very quiet, though
"I Love A Long Goodbye" is as good as anything he's ever done.
Patrick Pentland is still rockin', though. He's also contributed a little
gem here, in the form of "It's In Your Eyes", a straight-forward pop song,
and the closer, "Your Dreams Have Come True". Very nice. Jay Ferguson
contributes the most consistently accessible material to the album in
"Dreaming of You", "Who You Talkin' To?", and "Are You Giving Me Back
My Love?". It's Pentland's pop contributions and Ferguson's material that
are going to make this album stand up and be counted.
I
fear even die hard Sloan fans (like myself) may have trouble falling in
love with this album, but though uneven, the die-hards must have it.
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Super Furry Animals
Rings Around the World
Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd.
www.ringsaroundtheworld.co.uk
Released Summer, 2001
Not as consistently trippy as their last two outings, the Furries still
manage a bit of magic on this. "Alternate Route To Vulcan Street" is as
good as anything off of either Radiator or Guerilla, with
all the bubbling keyboards and inherent strangeness and otherworldly noises
I've grown to associate with this band from Wales. I'd still put a headphone
alert on it.
This
group is notorious for churning out things which sound like tinkling,
space age nursery songs interspersed with aggressive rock numbers, something
in short supply on this album, unhappily. "(Drawing) Rings Around the
World" sounds more like old-skool ELO than the ELO album Jeff Lynne released
earlier this year. Just don't get paranoid and turn it off to answer the
phone, and you'll be fine. (Yet another reason to don headphones to listen
to it).
My eight year old daughter loves these records. It's not difficult to
hear why, although "Shoot Doris Day" is really lame. As is typical of
SFA's records, the wonderful thing here are the short keyboard breaks
between some songs, and the stylistic variation amongst the songs themselves
(doo wop here, cheesy '80s synth-pop there).
Unfortunately, there isn't much rowdiness on this record. Other than the
aforementioned tunes, the only other real standouts are "Receptacle For
the Respectable" and "Juxtaposed With U". Recommendations for completists,
or for those who really want to hear an ELO song that isn't ELO.
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Jamiroquai
A Funk Odyssey
Sony Music Ltd, UK
www.jamiroquai.com
Released
September, 2001
Will Jamiroquai ever surpass what was accomplished with 1996's Travelling
Without Moving, an album full of funky dance tunes that managed a
crossover hit with "Virtual Insanity"---a funk song that was played on
R n' B stations, top 40 pop stations and so-called modern rock stations?
Yes, there was definitely something mind blowing about hearing that on
the heels of Soundgarden or Foo Fighters.
Sure,
there are probably better funk and disco bands out there, probably better
acid jazz outfits. The test here is whether anyone listening to this record
can sit still while it's playing. It took me forever to find it, because
it was shelved in the R n' B section of the record store. Their vocalist
is a dead ringer for Stevie Wonder, which makes some cringe, and only
makes the rest of us wonder how the hell some English white boy can sound
like that. (There exist a number of other vocalists of which the same
could be said, but that's an entire essay unto itself).
Jamiroquai consistently deliver accessible-to-the-masses funky disco songs,
which, if a person is old enough, will spin a web of nostalgia for the
days when that type of music was readily available simply by turning a
radio dial.
Most
of A Funk Odyssey is more of the same: quality dance music, with a couple
of "Quiet Storm" numbers thrown in for good measure (or to decrease momentum,
which is aggravating). Overall, though, if you're looking to shake your
booty, this is outta sight. Also gets kudos for inspiring mad housecleaning
frenzies and making one believe that going to the gym with a discman isn't
such a bad idea.
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