REVIEW: Lisa Loeb, Firecracker (Geffen)
- David Pirmann
Admittedly, I've been a fan of Lisa Loeb and her bookworm cat-like glasses since "Stay (I Missed You)" appeared on the soundtrack to the film Reality Bites more than a year before her first album was released. With their first album, Lisa Loeb and her backup band Nine Stories needed to overcome the instant popularity that "Stay" brought them, and although it had some good pop tunes, there was an equal number of forgettable, bland songs in which it was obvious that as a band they had not found their sound. In places, the indie-rock electric guitar of Nine Stories' backup clashed with Lisa Loeb's intellectual pop songwriting. On Firecracker, Lisa Loeb's second full album, the band and Lisa's lyrics and singing have fallen more into place, with the result being, for the most part, smooth and harmonious "intelli-pop".
In the past two years, many women singer-songwriters have appeared, many of whom are filled with angst and anger (Alanis Morissette, Jewel, Liz Phair, etc.) but Lisa Loeb continues to work against that trend. The pink bubblegum album cover is the first indication, and the first single, "I Do", is the second indication that there are other ways to write about spoiled relationships: uptempo, good beat, and Lisa's easy-to-listen-to voice (compare Ms. Morissette's "You Oughta Know" to see the other end of the spectrum!). However, even without a strong dose of black angst, it seems that every song is about spoiled relationships in one way or another.
In literature classes, one is taught that it is a mistake to assume that the "I" in a poem is the voice of the poet, but the songwriting here, and Lisa's expressive voice, makes it hard to seperate the song from the singer, leading to a very personal experience as a listener. There are some places where the songwriting suffers from Lisa Loeb's attempt to intellectualize, but this too contributes to a feeling of being there with the "I" in the songs. Almost every song is written in the first person - a little glimpse into some "I"'s life.
Nine Stories, the band, has matured, losing the rock band sound that marred some of the first album's tracks. The electric guitars have been replaced by acoustic, and many of the tracks are arranged with a string quartet or orchestra, for instance on Firecracker's second track "Falling in Love". The strings combined with acoustic guitar and harmony vocals by guest Shawn Colvin has a decidedly non-rock and yet non-folk sound which works well. The second single, "Truthfully", uses the strings and a very nice harmony vocal on the chorus, looped in by Lisa herself.
As a sophomore effort, I think Lisa Loeb has matured and worked out a sound that fits the songwriting well. The songwriting still needs to mature a little. I'd like to hear Lisa's voice and talent for personalizing the songs to be used for something other than failed relationships. None of the tracks here will be as powerful as "Stay (I Missed You)". But, they've got the sound right, so I'll be waiting, hoping the next album reaches the next level.
