REVIEW: Tripping Daisy, Jesus Hits Like The Atom Bomb (Island)
- Jon Steltenpohl
When Tripping Daisy first got signed, their independent album was so good that Island Records re-released it as originally recorded. Their regional following in Texas was rabid, and their live shows were so good that there seemed no limit to their potential. Unfortunately, Tripping Daisy's second album only spawned the minor hit "I Got a Girl" and didn't seem to shift them out of "promising" gear. In concert, the band still was incredible, but it hadn't translated in the studio. Jesus Hits Like The Atom Bomb meanders again with a shift in sound, and instead of fulfilling their grand promise, Tripping Daisy sounds like they're starting over.
Instead of a halfway goofy take on Jane's Addiction, Tripping Daisy's sound is now somewhere between The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, and The Pixies. Unfortunately, this is exactly the kind of sound Frank Black drifted to after breaking up The Pixies, and he did a much better job of it. Space sounds, soaring harmonies, and random distortions alternately stimulate and ruin this album. Tripping Daisy is going for something on a grander scale, but the effect is lost. The band sounds like a bunch of talented alternative rockers trying to play a 70's art rock song book. It's not horrible, but they'd be better off sticking to their own style.
Take "Sonic Bloom". It's got a catchy little melody with the potential to be another "I Got a Girl." "I can't believe it happened to me," swoons Delaughter, "the magic's in my heart". Cute, but unfortunately, Tripping Daisy frames it with a shoegazer/4AD kind of sound. In the hands of The Cure, this song becomes "Friday, I'm in Love", but Tripping Daisy doesn't pull it off. They can't leave well enough alone, and add Beach Boy harmonies and a Pink Floyd-esque whistling chorus. "Mechanical Breakdown" almost come out okay. In the beginning, it's fun and punky, and, at the core, it feels like a DIY pop-punk song. But by the end, the song veers severely off course. It meanders near a David Bowie space rock sound, and then mutates into a horrible screeching vocal section that's just plain wrong. Some songs, such as "New Plains Medicine" are virtually unlistenable for similar reasons.
Jesus Hits Like The Atom Bomb takes one shot at respectability with a three song montage of "Our Drive to the Sun", "Can A Man Mark It?", and "Human Contact". Somehow, these songs put it all together. If the entire album was like these three songs, it would rival both Bowie and Pink Floyd's best. They are full of sonic grandeur and careful restraint that goes beyond just the melody.
Unfortunately though, they aren't representative of the album as a whole. Tripping Daisy has always written decent songs, and there is no doubt that these songs will sound much better in concert, which lately is a rare feat. However, it feels too much like an album of studio experimentation that hasn't had a chance to develop into a mature sound. In other words, Jesus Hits Like The Atom Bomb puts Tripping Daisy back at square one. Their new sound is an admirable attempt, but despite 3 albums under their belt, Tripping Daisy still just remains a band with great promise.
