MINI REVIEWS: Karate, Lovemongers, Nuggets (Original
Artyfacts from Psychedlic Era), Pop Unknown, Snowpony
There's something about the lead-off track on Karate's third LP, The Bed is in the Ocean (Southern) that just grabbed me. Much of it lies in the way singer Geoff Farina says, "So quiet I can hear that the refrigerator is on" half talking, half singing, with an irregular rhythmic feel and a sense of vague angst, almost like he's not sure whether he should be upset about this or not. The music swells at just the right points in this song, melding indie rock and jazzy guitar fills into an interesting amalgam that actually works. Unfortunately, the rest of The Bed is in the Ocean is ultimately forgettable. After a deluge of repetitively jazzy guitar parts and Farina's bland vocals, you may not care anymore when Farina moans, "There is hard rain where I'm walking." Karate sounds like they are trying to do too many different things at once -- straight-up indie rock, emo-core, jazz improvisation -- and end up not succeeding at any of them. - Kerwin So
This Christmas, there's a little more love around the heart - or in this case, Heart. The Wilson sisters (Ann and Nancy) have engaged in their favorite side project - the Lovemongers - and released a holiday album based on traditional holiday music as well as some originals.
On Here Is Christmas (2B Music), the guitars have been left at home, as these carolers serenade the listener with a combination of timeless classics and original music. And since the Wilsons have always had exceptional voices, songs such as "Ave Maria" and "O Holy Night" fall within the traditions expected by the relatives on Christmas Day, while "The Last Noel" and "William and Rose" are newer cuts destined for playing at next Christmas, as well. One more disc for the stocking. - Bob Gajarsky
While there's been plenty of ink spent raving about the four-disc collection of '60s garage and psychedelic rock Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968 (Rhino), it's for good reason. Nuggets captures a period of history like no other boxed set in a long, long, time. And no other collection on the market was pieced together with more love and care.
Don't be turned off when you pick up the brightly colored box in a store and recognize maybe ten of the 118 tracks. While hits such as "Wooly Bully" and "Incense and Peppermints" pop up throughout, buried within are dozens of lost classics, the original punk rock, if you will. And remember- punk rock and oldies have one major thing in common. If you don't like the song that's playing, just wait two minutes for the next one. - Scott Slonaker
The five-song debut EP Summer Season Kills (Deep Elm) from Austin's Pop Unknown is a fully realized musical work, a minor masterpiece. From singer Tim Lasater's co-dependent mantra on the opening song "Follow You" ('I will follow you, follow you, oh anywhere'), to the heartbreaking refrain of the closer, "Tipping the Scale" ('Bye bye, my love'), you can almost musically trace the birth and death of an intimate relationship. Not surprising, considering that Pop Unknown's lineup includes ex-members of Austin favorite Feed Lucy and the influential emo-core band Mineral. Yes, yes, the lyrics here are nothing entirely original - this is still emo-rock after all - but the music (and Lasater's non-castrato voice) more than make up for it. The aforementioned "Follow You" takes things nice and easy a la Red Stars Theory, dripping chiming guitar lines like so many teardrops. Pulsing keyboards give way to a power chord workout that conveys passion without going over the toptheres real patience and craft in this song and it shows. "This Guy's Ready for Bed" is a no-frills mid-tempo affair, giving way to "Your Own Personal Wedding" which rocks out like early Sunny Day Real Estate - enough said. "Ink and Paper" slowly builds a straight-ahead four-chord rocker into an all-out Archers of Loaf frenzy. And finally of course, there's "Tipping the Scale", replete with the standard whisper-to-a-scream dynamics and a lingering outro to remind us how hard it really is to say goodbye. Fortunately for the listener, you can always hit the repeat button. Summer Season Kills shows a band ready to take the world by storm, with the musical guts and know-how to pull it off. Look for a full length coming out hopefully in 1999. - Kerwin So
Snowpony features members of two Irish-British collectives famed for stretching musical boundaries: Stereolab and My Bloody Valentine. While The Slow Motion World of Snowpony (Relativity) bears some of the electronically layered dots and loops of the former and the barely sublimated aggressive tendencies of the latter, the surface similarities end there.
Instead, this album is more like an entree to a gloriously appointed postmodern cabaret. A laconic female singer who sounds like an Irish Liz Phair gives up sinuous torch songs -- "3 Can Keep a Secret (If 2 are Dead)," "Titanic," "Snow White" -- all filled with dark secrets and longing. The album's title may suggest the vocals, like a thick honey compared to the speed-demon bee behind the drum kit, propelling every track as if it were the lead instrument.
This is no guitar band, then, but the album has a fascinatingly rich soundstage and sparkling production throughout. Every track is laced with the unexpected, in a sonic backdrop containing dozens of electronic quavers and blips and more judiciously placed interjections of brass sounds, plus a variety of deep, fluid bass lines. Snowpony has made one of the most unique sounding - and accessible -- anti-pop albums in recent memory.
- Dan Aloi
