Results tagged “Album Reviews” from NoMuse

On the same bowling trip I discovered The Darkness, I was also exposed to the video for "Stacy's Mom." It was my first experience with Fountains of Wayne and I was impressed with their infectious pop sensibility. Both Stacy and her Mom were pretty hot too, but I'm sure that had little to do with "Stacy's Mom" taking up residence in my mind.

After "Permission to Land," I had a very low level of expectation with regard to "Welcome Interstate Managers." Fountains of Wayne however, knows how to make not only a coherent but a fantastic, witty, addicting album and has left me awed at the quality and execution from the first listen through three weeks of heavy rotation. There is not a track on the album I dislike, but I find myself looking forward to "Bright Future in Sales," "Stacy's Mom," "Hey Julie," "Little Red Light," and "Peace and Love" marginally more than the other songs. It is not a significant margin by any stretch of the imagination. The tunes range from the straight forward, well executed pop of "Stacy's Mom" and "Bright Future in Sales" to songs playing as homage to the likes of Gordon Lightfoot ("Valley Winter Song"), Simon and Garfunkle ("Hey Julie") and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band ("Hung Up On You").

The lyrics are masterfully sardonic observations of popular culture. Topics range from the stock theme of the broken hearted, jilted lover torn between reconciliation and revenge to ruminations on the reality of the music business and the business of sales. "Welcome Interstate Managers" is one of those albums I can easily see myself grabbing in order to revisit the lyrics as much as the music. (Lloyd Cole's "The Negatives" still holds the title in my book, but Fountains of Wayne is definitely crawling up its way up my list.)

The liner notes include the lyrics, credits, photos of the band members and a brief round of "thank-you's" from the band. The design is interesting in its use of altered photos emphasizing the 2D nature of both the photos and the liner notes in a very postmodern way. The effect is of a photo of poorly made and badly arranged cardboard props in rows.

The album is so good, I hunted down Fountains of Wayne's first two albums, the 1996 self titled album and the 1999 "Utopia Parkway." My initial reaction is to like both of these earlier releases and they continue to grow on me as they get additional play time. I'm enjoying all three albums currently available and look forward to the next release by the band.

Rating: Strongly Recommended.

Fountains of Wayne, "Welcome Interstate Managers"

Occasionally, Nat and I go out with our friends Jason and Anne for dinner and bowling. Friday and Saturday nights are the best as the alley turns off the lights and then cranks up the classic rock, the fog machines, the disco ball, the black lights and the strobe lights.I've found that my bowling improves with distraction and I've got plenty of room for bowling improvement. On our previous trips, we've enjoyed AC/DC, Kiss, Cream and the like during "Thunder Alley." Saturday the 28th, however, we experienced bowling to Brittany, Beyonce, Outkast and Christina with music videos. I discovered the fine line between levels of distraction -- music I enjoy is good while buxom young women in diaphanous attire is also good, but not for bowling.

Shortly after I experienced why "Toxic" was pulled from prime time rotation by MTV, the fellow running the show queued up The Darkness's "I Believe in a Thing Called Love." I was jonesing for some new tunes and was amazed at the tongue in cheek nods to classic rock groups from Peter Frampton to Boston throughout the video. I went right out and bought their album, Permission to Land. Luckily, the album ran me just under $11.00.

The music is actually fairly decent with three stand out tunes. My buddy, Dan, and I managed to listen to the whole album driving to and from lunch. Dan plays a little guitar and I caught him jamming air guitar and humming along -- at least when he wasn't bursting out laughing when I translated some lengthy lyric crammed into a third the space it ought to have. In fact, "Love is Only a Feeling" is a sufficiently good power ballad to bring The Darkness back for a second album in the event their current single doesn't generate sufficient income.

Mr. Hawkins's voice could be a huge plus for The Darkness, but at present it wallows in a combination of Freddy Mercury, Ric Ocasek, Freddy Curci and Miss Piggy. His voice is potentially offbeat in a good way, but is presently prone to painful falsetto without reason.

I paused three times over two days while considering opening this album because of the parental advisory warning. Explicit content is generally a bad sign and "Permission To Land" is no exception. I'm aware that the f-bomb is weighted much less negatively across the pond. I'm prone to its use from time to time myself. I believe, however, it is not necessary to include it in virtually every song, several times, ad nauseum. The lyrics surrounding lack any sense of wit or restraint and seem to exist primarily as a vehicle for dropping the bomb in its various forms.

The liner notes are of fairly decent quality, include the lyrics, photos of the band and "thank you's" from each member. The liner notes indicate some sort of copy control, but I cannot seem to bring myself to make mp3's to find out the specifics.

Rating: Strongly Not Recommended

Sophmore albums are notorious for their inability to live up to a well adored first album. "Feels Like Home" does not suffer from this malady. Quite the contrary, Ms. Jones and The Handsome Band have forged an album with the feel of careful nurture and precise craftsmanship. It is a far cry from the cheaply mass produced, shoddy consumer products which inundate our lives. The listener is, of course, treated to a return visit with Ms. Jones's breath taking vocals. Though the mood evokes the earlier album's laid back tempo, be certain this is not your mother's copy of "Come Away With Me." The band has grown and evolved and "Feels Like Home" is the natural result of this process.

One of the major evolutions is the writing contribution of each member of the band. These contributions work together to create a memorable album, at once both a series of snap shots carefully arranged in a scrapbook and a cohesive collage, painting an elegant portrait of The Handsome Band. Not only has Ms. Jones helped to insure the long term financial viability of her collaborators, the listener is treated to a vastly expanded view of the musical landscape.

Even the liner notes reverberate carefully crafted quality. They contain writing and performance credits as well as the lyrics for each of the songs and a brief round of "thank yous", all tastefully and invitingly arranged. They manage to elegantly provide detailed information and to reinforce the idea of process, growth and development with the selection of documentary styled snapshots carefully scattered through the text.

From the first single, Sunrise, through a duet with Dolly Parton to a reworking of Duke Ellington's Melancholia, "Feels Like Home" explores the edges of isolation, loneliness and tentative, new affections with a mix of jazz, folk, country and blues. It is an audio treat for me this week equal to my first experience with "Come Away With Me."

Rating: Recommended (until I manage to develop a rating system)

Norah Jones "Feels Like Home"