The Millennial Answer to Beatles' Withdrawal

Myracle Brah
The Myracle Brah

Not Lame Recording Company

www.notlame.com

Released late autumn, 2000

This is the third full-length release from Andy Bopp's Myracle Brah in a bit over two years' time, and like 1999's Plate Spinner, there's a sense of melancholy which pervades this record that wasn't readily apparent on the debut release in 1998, the highly acclaimed and very well received Life On Planet Eartsnop, which was largely a collection of sparkling, upbeat pop in the vein of earlier Beatles and Badfinger. (Yeah, yeah, er, yeah---everyone's already said that, but it's true; I always thought ...Eartsnop was the greatest unreleased 1965 Beatles' album ever made, myself, but I digress, because that's not what we're here to discuss, is it?) Plate Spinner, on the other hand, made me cry, and that is not a bad thing: The directional change was drastic, the second record was a sorrowful rock'n roll departure from all that fun the year before.

And this brings us right up to here and now. The Myracle Brah kicks off raucously enough, with "I'd Rather Be", which is ultra-pop and ultra-hooky and ultra-sunny, but it gets really brilliant on the second track with "Message '78", which is a regretful farewell of a lovesong.

If radio programmers were as smart as they were thirty years ago, we'd all be crying on the morning drive right into tracks three and four, "When She Cries" and "Madaliene", respectively. "Madaliene" is the stunner track on this album, full of water-washed vocals, and a downbeat yet sing-song rhyming chorus. (This may be hard to imagine, but our Patron Saint of Pop did it to gorgeous effect, in less than three minutes). That is what the repeat button was invented for: So one can listen to songs like this over and over again, until it gets under your skin and seeps into your blood.

The other honorable mentions go to "Out of Tune" and "Dying 310", a song which will make the listener query "How is it that someone can display his influences so strongly and still make it all sound so fresh and new?" while falling headfirst into a pop swoon (which is what you call that thing that happens when you hear something and go "Oh, my, that's reallllllllly incredible" and have to catch your breath before you run and tell everyone about it).

Objectively and honestly, there isn't a throwaway on the entire album. Bopp's got a great voice---familiar, Lennonesque at times---yet all his own, and a powerful tool for laying these tales of human romantic foibles out on the proverbial table. He's also a wonderful technician, creating recordings so well produced that (even without the psychedelicized distractions I'm so notoriously infatuated with) there is joy to be found under headphones. And for those less inclined to be impressed with songs of love and doubt, the rockers on the record really rock out, man! I'm still happy to ruminate on how the modern answer to John, Paul, George and Ringo has been condensed into Myracle Brah via Andy Bopp's genius at songcraft and maintaining a tight, talented band to help him realize his vision. This is a hardworking bunch, and it shows, both live and on this gem of a record.

Can I say anything bad about this album? Yes: It's too damned short for such a pretty and heartwrenching piece of work.

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