REVIEW: Sponge, New Pop Sunday (Beyond/BMG)
- Bill Holmes
I get the pun, but if I didn't, the cartoon illustration on the cover would make it plain enough - sugar sweet music with an explosive edge. That Sponge goes pop is not surprising, they've certainly flashed the chops before. What is a bit of a shock is that they've toned down their edge as well, letting the guitars play second fiddle and making vocalist Vinnie Dombrowski the lead instrument. To say that his vocals on this record are mannered would be an understatement - he preens, seduces, drawls and doe-eyes his way through a collection of mostly shorter, simpler tracks. When it works, it works well, nailing a sound that most alterna-bands can only hope to catch once before the budget runs dry. But when it's off - and it sometimes is - it sounds like INXS trying to pretend they're a Midwestern rock band. That is not a good thing.
On the positive side, though, guitarists Mike Cross and Joey Mazzola churn out taut lines throughout the record. "Polyanna" features staccato playing reminiscent of U2's Edge, as does the two-stroke rhythm on "All American World" and the more manic "When You're On Fire Baby, Roll". Although the pulsating "Live Her Without You" is getting the single push from the label and radio, "Planet Girls" is the hands down winner. Scraping up every Ziggy-era Bowie lick and propelling it with trash can drumming, "Girls" is the best Mick Ronson nod I've heard in years. Sure it's lyrically silly, but who cares? Sometimes you just gotta rock. Sponge has finally (thankfully) shaken off the last of the grunge poseur posture and seem to be stepping towards a straight-ahead rock and roll sound, which should be a requirement or any Detroit band.
Dombrowski writes about unrequited love and lost love and dead love just like everybody else, but is never to convoluted nor too simplistic. Neither is the music, which pretty much keeps it to the bare essentials - solid rock, fairly repetitive but not annoyingly so, and the occasional flourish like the horns on "Disconnected" or the mandolin on "Lucky" . It's no coincidence that those two songs, which close the record, are among the strongest. Aside from "Planet Girls", there's nothing here that has the radio immediacy of "Wax Ecstatic", but there's certainly enough of a commitment to a newer direction so that listeners can easily decide whether to get on or off the Sponge bandwagon. (Note to fans - the title track might sound familiar if you own the Japanese version of Wax Ecstatic, albeit under a different name.)
Sponge has been able to get some radio play and decent sales from their two previous records, and New Pop Sunday should continue that trend. But with radio as fickle as it is, don't be surprised if these simpler, compact songs are destined to serve primarily as a launching pad for a more dynamic (read: LIVE) presentation. Sometimes radio just doesn't "get it" until it's too late. Don't let that stop you.
