“There is music in the air and lots of loving everywhere, so give me the
night. . .”
Hey, it’s Spring again, at least for this week. The sun is shining, I got
new sneakers and I drove to campus this morning with my sunroof open. To
top it all, there’s a stack of CDs on my desk begging for reviews.
COURTNEY WHO?
On the “strong-woman-leading-a-rock-band” angle (which is a cheap shot, I
know, but it’s the one that will get chatted up), forget about Hole. File
them under “Old News.” Matador Records was nice enough to send me The
Dirt of Luck, the new release from Boston band Helium.
Mary Timothy’s vocals stand out from the pack with loose Liz Phair-ish
melodies and a low, throaty quality that offers relief from the grating
rasps of Ms. Love-Cobain. Her lyrics are strong rock-song poetry, but the
real beauty is in the way she sings them. Her voice is a far cry from
someone on helium (see Ween review below).
Did I mention the music yet? They do the three-piece band, fuzzy guitar
thing, but the rhythm section holds sway in the mix. This keeps the noise
in a groove and gives the album movement. Timothy’s guitar dynamics conduct
these movements through a variety of moods, with “All the X’s Have Wings”
standing out with its dramatic rise and fall. Extra instrumentation, from
keyboards to xylophone, add new textures to the drone, with satisfying
results.
This band should get some notice over the next few months.
DON’T BE AFRAID:
Ween’s latest CD Cheese and Chocolate has been out for a
while, but they just released a video for “Freedom of ’76” directed by hot
item video-boy Spike Jonz. I was struck by how different the song is from
their first single, “Push the Little Daisies and Make Them Come Up.” The
irritating helium-voice from that song is replaced by a smooth,
Prince-quality falsetto in an homage to Philadelphia.
They pull this falsetto off again on “Roses Are Free,” which drives the
obvious Prince influence home with gusto. It even has the obscure yet
ominous tag line, “Don’t believe the florist when he tells you that the
roses are free.”
Other songs on the CD live up to the weirdness of “Daisies,” with less
annoying results. Still other tunes, like “Spinal Meningitis Got Me Down”
and “Don’t Shit Where You Eat,” ring with the mod-folk echoes of Beck’s
better efforts. So if you dug the oddness of the first album, don’t be
afraid of Ween going soft. They “got things going down that you don’t
know.”
THE THING THAT WILL NOT DIE:
Hot on the heels of Page and Plant’s self-referential tribute album and
tour comes Encomium– a Tribute to Led Zeppelin. It’s all the
rage, apparently.
4 Non-Blondes start the album with a loyal rendition of “Misty
Mountain Hop,” followed by Hootie and the Blowfish’s “Hey, Hey, What
Can I Do.” Both versions are top-notch, with the vocals of Linda Perry and
Darius Rucker making perfect matches with their respective songs.
Sheryl Crow tackles “D’yer Mak’er” in a light and bouncy Sheryl Crow
way. She does no wrong.
As tribute albums will, though, the album hits a low point flatter than
southern Alabama. Those hip daddy-o’s of Stone Temple Pilots turn in
an “unplugged” version of “Dancing Days.” Big Head Todd and the
Monsters offer an uninspired bar-band take of “Tangerine.” Luckily for
them, it’s hard to do a Zeppelin song badly.
Other artists on the CD who bring the disc back up to speed include
Helmet with David Yow (of the Jesus Lizard), the Rollins
Band and Duran Duran, of all people.
The album ends with Tori Amos and Robert Plant dueting on
“Down By the Seaside,” which is pleasant.
