I saw this album perusing through my hometown library while visiting for the holidays. Since the album had been critically acclaimed, toping several year-end lists as well as receiving a 10.0/10 from Pitchfork Media, I figured it was a good candidate as my first album to be reviewed.
As I put the CD in and pressed play on my stereo, I was immediately greeted by the type of music I would expect to hear as the theme music to a 60’s of 70’s show such as Charlie’s Angels or played as a vocal group such as the Dreamgirls took to the stage. It’s no surprise that this group has an affinity for things retro. A glance at the liner notes reveals that the cover art is from a 1966 photograph taken by Lawrence Schiller. As the song progresses, the listener is engulfed by a revival of classic rock material from psychedelia to Beatlesque references to string arrangements that sound like the product of an ELO record. The next track sees the group step into what they have since become known for, a rough edged, do-it-yourself, songwriting style. The vocals are “authentic” if you want to use a euphemism, or “rough and out of tune to the point of being nearly intolerable” if you don’t. Track three continues the throwback theme, this time being reminiscent of early Pink Floyd (pre Dark Side). From this mellow, almost hypnotic anthem, the band continues to shift styles making it hard to pin down the exact direction they plan on going with the album. Throughout the next few tracks I tried to stay open minded, but found it difficult to not dismiss a lot of the music as being nothing more than mediocre rock. None of the musicians display a remarkable ability to perform on their instruments, including the lead singer, Wayne Coyne whose vocals leave plenty to be desired. This would be acceptable if the songwriting were there to back it up (à la Neil Young or Thom Yorke of Radiohead). The problem, however, is that the songs themselves seem very simple and uninteresting. More then that, the lyrics seem equally as inoffensive. Without more depth (sonically or lyrically), the listener is left with a lot of instrumentation and musical layering that revolve around a substance-less core.
About halfway through the album, there is an ambient instrumental, or “stoner music” for the layperson. This is employed frequently by bands such as R.E.M. (Automatic for the People, Out of Time), to great effect. I believe it works in the case of this album as well, providing some of the more interesting music of the first half of the album. Alas, the next half starts out by continuing the trend of average sounding music trying be passed of as something more. I really don’t understand the critics get so excited about this album. I understand that the band is going for the rougher, DIY sound fundamental to alternative music since it’s inception. Poor execution aside however, the album doesn’t work because the songs themselves are largely predictable, forgettable, and uninteresting. Many have called this album one of the best of the decade. I feel that to earn this title the music should involve sonic exploration that has never been done before. Or at least be out of the realm of expectation. The album’s retro approach while interesting, fails to live up to it’s true potential. Rather than taking the classic sounds of the late 60’s and 70’s and updating them in an innovative way, the band produces what amounts to a shoddy rip-off of ELO. In fact, by track 11 I had yet to hear a song with enough memorability to be released as a single. As I reached the end, I did hear moments that I found to be interesting during the second half of the album. Unfortunately, none of them lasted the duration of an entire song.
To summarize my feelings toward this album (if you can’t already tell), I believe it to be highly overrated. The moral of the story is simple. Far less than perfect execution can be forgiven if the is substance either musically or lyrically (or both) to back it up. Unfortunately this band (at least on this album) has neither. According to some critics, because of it’s instrumentation and layered symphonic sound, this album is considered to be the Pet Sounds of the 90’s. I couldn’t agree more. Pet Sounds is overrated too.
P.S. this entry was posted on a plane, somewhere over Nevada.
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