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Seksu Roba
Eenie Meenie
If nothing else, a band whose sound is described as “Giorgio Moroder meets Italy disco meets Ennio Morricone” is at least worth investigating, if only just to answer the burning question, “What the hell does a combination like that sound like?” What it sounds like is Seksu Roba, a phrase that’s Japanese for “sex donkey.” (Um, okay.) There’s certainly less Morricone here than there is Moroder, however; this is definitely an album for fans of ‘80s keyboard-oriented dance pop, though it occasionally ventures into disco and even a bit of kitschy-ish lounge (witness the cover of “Up Up and Away,” or, more surreally, the cover of My Bloody Valentine’s “Moon Song”). More often instrumental than vocal in nature, Pleasure Vibrations slips back and forth between dancefloor fun and background music, but, ultimately, it’s an enjoyable listen all around.
---originally written for Amplifier.
Strawberries on Sunday
Rocket Racket
http://www.squiresofthesubterrain.com
---originally written for Amplifier.
Rainbow Quartz
With all due respect to the label and its roster, it must be a
simultaneous blessing and curse to be signed to Rainbow Quartz.
Certainly, Rainbow Quartz knows exactly the sort of artist on which they want to focus; as their website indicates, the label’s emphasis is on “guitar-pop and rock with a jangly psychedelic edge as well as solid singer songwriters and bands with a cerebral and artsy bent.” They know the big events at which to present their bands: the CMJ Festival, South by Southwest, and, of course, International Pop Overthrow. At the latter, the CDs by their artists virtually blow right off the merchandise table, so frantically are all the pop geeks (a number which includes this writer, it must be said) waving their cash around in order to obtain copies. This is a label that clearly loves the music they release and, as such, the musicians undoubtedly love the label to which they’re signed; it has to be great to know that your label is behind you 100% with the music you produce.
Unfortunately, because the label has such an evident musical emphasis, those in the know could easily pick up a CD, see it’s on Rainbow Quartz, and write off the artist simply because of the label to which they’re signed, saying, “Oh, man, everyone on that label sounds the same.”
And while the discerning listener can certainly tell the difference between, say, the Jessica Fletchers and the Gurus…well, frankly, it ain’t like you can’t tell about 30 seconds into either group’s album that the two bands share similar influences. Obviously, playing “Spot The Influence” is a long-standing hallmark of the power pop scene as a whole, but, on Rainbow Quartz, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel.
So the purpose of this review is to beg and plead with those folks who might be tempted to pigeonhole the Singles just because they’re signed to Rainbow Quartz, to beseech them to give Better Than Before a listen.
The Singles, who’ve come roaring out of Detroit, are dressed in suits and ties on the cover of their debut album, not entirely unlike the Hives; in fact, Better Than Before is extremely reminiscent of Veni Vidi Vicious, except that the Singles have a black backdrop compared to the Hives’ white. There’s some irony in the fact that the Hives appear to have been influenced by musicians from the Singles’ hometown (the Stooges), even though the Singles’ musical stylings are more closely aligned with folks like the Beatles, the Kinks, and the Flaming Groovies.
I know what you’re thinking. “This guy just spent several paragraphs talking about how everyone on Rainbow Quartz has a similar sound, then he says to give the Singles a chance, but what does he do? He admits they have similar influences to everyone else on the label!”
True. But there’s something different about the Singles.
While much of the Rainbow Quartz roster is mining the psychedelic period of the ‘60s, the Singles are living large in the mid ‘60s, when the Beatles hadn’t yet turned off their mind, relaxed, and floated downstream. This is old-school pop-rock, occasionally even heading into Buddy Holly territory (it’s undeniable on “See You Again”)...but with all the raucous punk-pop gusto of the Buzzcocks. This is an incredibly energetic album from start to finish...well, okay, except for the gentle “There’s Nothing Wrong With I’m With You.” But everyone needs to rest once in awhile.
In an interview on the label’s website, the Singles’ lead singer/ rhythm guitarist Vince Frederick says, “Our main goal is to record two albums a year. I hate how long bands take to release a follow-up album.” Given the sheer enthusiasm of Better Than Before, it’s easy to imagine the band making good on their goal. Now, whether or not Rainbow Quartz is going to be willing to release two albums a year...? That remains to be seen.
At the very, though, it’s indisputable that the Singles are the most valuable jewel in Rainbow Quartz’s crown.
(originally appeared on PopMatters.com)
Interscope
It’s very hard to dislike Smash Mouth.
Unless, of course, you listen to the radio in any capacity whatsoever, in which case you may well have put them on your enemies list after “Walking On The Sun” was played into oblivion back in ’97. And if that song’s constant appearance in the rotation didn’t make you want to punch them in the face, then, surely, the even more ubiquitous and upbeat “All-Star” from a few years later legitimately made you want to throttle them. (Don’t even get me started on their cover of “I’m A Believer,” from the Shrek soundtrack.)
Stupid ol’ radio. It ruins so many songs for so many people.
“Walking On The Sun” was and is a great, ‘60s-styled, organ-driven single...albeit one that, after you’d heard Smash Mouth’s 1997 debut album, Fush Yu Mang, you were pretty sure was going to be a one-hit wonder for the band. And, yet, when the group released their sophomore effort, Astro Lounge, two years later, it was astounding to find that the group actually had an album’s worth of songs in ‘em that were all almost as strong as their breakthrough single.
Perpetual repetition of the track may have permanently impaired the memory of the first time you heard “All Star,” but, if you try really hard, maybe you can vaguely recall that your initial impression involved noting just how fun a song it was, and, in particular, how great that bit is where they sing, “All that glitters is gold / Only shooting stars / Break the mold.”
Clearly, the band’s had a way with a single from the get-go. Their self-titled third album featured “Pacific Coast Party” and “Holiday In My Head,” both of which were solid pop nuggets. Still, Smash Mouth wasn’t the success than its predecessors had been, and the reason why seems to be when it was released: November.
Isn’t it obvious to everyone by now that Smash Mouth is the definitive summertime fun pop band of today’s generation? And having achieved that lofty position, why on earth would their label, Interscope, release their new album in the cold months of winter?
Thankfully, Interscope learned at least a little bit from their error. Get The Picture?, Smash Mouth’s latest album, made it to stores at the beginning of August, as summer was winding to a close.
Smash Mouth aren’t afraid to mine ‘80s pop for inspiration. For Friends Again, the second collection of songs from NBC’s Friends, the group contributed a kick-ass version of Let’s Active’s “Every Word Means No.” In addition, the last track on Astro Lounge is a cover of “Can’t Get Enough Of You, Baby,” which was also a cult hit for the Colourfield, Specials frontman Terry Hall’s post-Fun Boy Three group. Since Smash Mouth’s beginnings were rooted more in ska than pop, it’s no surprise that they’d be Terry Hall fans...nor, somehow, that they’d think it was cool to get Ranking Roger, late of the (English) Beat and General Public, to guest on “You Are My Number One,” the first single from Get The Picture? The song was written for the band by Neil Diamond, who came into their circle of friends courtesy of their covering “I’m A Believer.”
As with its two predecessors (and, to a certain extent, with Fush Yu Mang, too), much of Get The Picture? flows together as one long Farfisa-fueled symphony. This is good and bad; what they do, they do well, but it’s still rather easy to suggest that each Smash Mouth album has, more or less, sounded like the last.
Is there anything on this disc that particularly stands out as different from its antecedent? Nah, not so much.
But if you already like Smash Mouth, you’ll be sitting pretty with this Picture.
(originally appeared on PopMatters.com)