I'm a Wash-out: December 2012

PULP - HIS 'N' HERS - 8.5/10
His 'n' Hers is probably the definition of a transitional album. Nobody remembers the Pulp of Freaks and Separations because the Pulp of Different Class and This is Hardcore were so genre and epoch defining, but on His 'N' Hers, the group's breakthrough record, both sides of the band - the early experimentalism and the later attitude - are present. Of course, the former is present even in later releases, "Seductive Barry" resembling somewhat the rambling '80's-ness of Separations, but what makes His 'N' Hers such a clear transition is the embryonic nature of the catchy tunes found on the album, and perhaps its lack of consistency. Album opener "Joyriders" kicks off with almost quintessential Britpop attitude, delivered with a self-aware smugness and sexual depravity found throughout Pulp's oeuvre as well as that of musical blood-brothers Suede (though the two bands would likely not acknowledge each other as such). Still, the song itself is spotty just like the album, as the energy wanes a bit going into the chorus with the "Jesus sandals" bit. Similarly, the cynical but sensitive "Lipgloss" is followed with the moody but unremarkable "Acrylic Afternoons", but this is followed by the hidden brilliance of "Have You Seen Her Lately?", which is almost an alter-ego of "Lipgloss", responding to the same situation with pity and sympathy instead of "I told you so" cynicism at romance in general as in the latter. "Have You Seen Her Lately?" likewise flows with a bittersweet smoothness in contrast to the frenetic jumpiness of "Lipgloss". Next up is the brilliant "Babies" - a song so perfectly campy and sensitive that I'm at a loss to explain my sister's dislike for it - followed by the fairly terrible "She's A Lady", which seems even less necessary in my estimation for the fact that Pulp's own work is each song infinitely superior to "I Will Survive", which is more or less sampled in this song. "Happy Endings", sad and smooth like "Have You Seen Her Lately?" follows, however, rectifying the album's string of terrific songs, and it itself is followed by "Do You Remember the First Time?", a song so deceptively but obviously brilliant that I can do it justice with no description. "Pink Glove" is also sensitive and honest, expressive what everyone has felt at some point, following up well on "Do You Remember the First Time?". "Someone Like the Moon" and "David's Last Summer" are both perfectly enjoyable songs, but both lacking in the brilliant poppiness at which Pulp has shown itself so adroit. Single "Razzmatazz" is on my version, and is basically a breakup song in the mold of "Lipgloss", but is very enjoyable as well. His 'n' Hers is, all in all, an album consisting of its brilliant moments enough to justify it's near classic status, and some of the songs on this album best anything from Different Class or This is Hardcore, so it's certainly well worth checking out. The honesty and humility of this album, and Pulp in general, really set it apart. Similar in nature to Suede, Jarvis does not separate himself from the scene of the action as Brett Anderson tends to, so the feelings here are raw, and reflect success and failure in equal measure and all with total honesty. It's really one of the most enjoyable albums of the decade, albeit one that may prompt you to hit the skip button a few times. Highlights include "Babies," "Do You Remember the First Time?", and "Pink Glove".

JEREMY ENIGK - RETURN OF THE FROG QUEEN - 9/10
How do I define this album? First off, look back to my review of I Hope Your Heart is Not Brittle by Portastatic where I attempt to describe its aesthetic, and then graft that off of Mac McCaughan and onto Sunny Day Real Estate lead man Jeremy Enigk. Then infuse it with a fairy tale aesthetic, equal parts dark and light, whimsical and melancholy, and finally throw in a whole lot of instrumental complexity, and there you have it. This album is on the whole completely brilliant, somehow, and I'm not quite sure how, telling a story whose plot and characters take a back seat to its aesthetic and drama (perhaps the modernist interpretation of this story of "The Return of the Frog Queen", a Paul Klee interpretation, equal parts primitive and innovative, but on the whole mysterious and thrilling). Despite it's obscurity, augmented by the still strange accent of Jeremy Enigk (he still adds random W's to words), however, it is entirely meaningful and powerful. In the title track, a lightly flowing verse suddenly jolts into a strangely moving chorus in which Enigk determinedly intones "Every time you cry, I'll cry for you, and all these fumes will turn into mud!". Moments like these are the highlights of this album, which is best taken whole - it's not very long and flows impeccably. Thus, while some tracks would seem to be more bland than others, they feed into the drama that follows on others. What makes this album so much more brilliant than other concept based albums is that the music matches the mood perfectly. The idea is that Return of the Frog Queen is a fairy tale, and the music captures the Grimm aesthetic in all its wonder and frightfulness. It's passionate at times and relaxing at others, and really perfectly done. All in all, it's truly a gem - colorful, precious, perfectly consistent, but a bit small in the end. My only qualm is that I wish this album were double it's length - I could listen to it forever. In the end, sadly, there's only one Return of the Frog Queen: a brief testament to the imagination. I'm now determined that Jeremy Enigk deserves a place amongst the great musical minds of modern times, and even more so that Sunny Day Real Estate is a superior ensemble to the Foo Fighters that have inexplicably largely overshadowed them. Time will tell if this album ever gets the recognition it deserves. Highlights include "Return of the Frog Queen," "Lizard," and "Shade and the Black Hat".

BLUR - THE GREAT ESCAPE - 7.5/10
It's really an interesting exercise to think about how legacies form. Blur must have seemed clearly second place on this day in 1995 - Blur had released two quite good albums in Parklife and The Great Escape, but Oasis had just released Definitely Maybe and (What's the Story) Morning Glory? and must have seemed poised for a career plush with greatness. 13 and Blur, Be Here Now and Heathen Chemistry later, it seems like Blur was always the critic's darling of the two (not to speak of Pulp and Suede who are pretty equal to the other two behemoths in terms of quality). The Great Escape is a terrific album though. It's got its fair share of great songs and today sounds more experimental than anything Oasis ever released, either because it was or because the Oasis sound was adopted as mainstream in the years that followed. A few things put this album a tick below (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, however in overall quality, and help explain why this is the forgotten Blur album. First off, it's not as aesthetically consistent as many releases. A modernist malcontent theme runs through the album, but is broken up enough to make some songs seem extraneous. You have to work hard to see the connections between "Best Days" and "Country House", but they are there. The Great Escape follows on the heels of Parklife in analyzing the dissatisfaction of modern middle-class life, and all the songs generally point to that message. It is a compelling and relevant message, but the songs are all more or less catered to it - you have no larger than life statements of human greatness like "Live Forever" or "Some Might Say", though the latter certainly has less innate meaning. Secondly, and similarly, some of the songs are boring or somewhat unremarkable - "Top Man", "Mr. Robinson's Quango", and "He Thought of Cars" leave little lasting impression. Even the songs that are really quite great - "The Universal", "Yuko and Hiro", and even (or maybe especially) "Country House" and "Charmless Man" - take a few listens to really understand what makes them special. All in all though, this is a meaningful album and one that is really quite an enjoyable listen despite its inconsistencies. Highlights include "Best Days", "The Universal", and "Yuko and Hiro".

I'm a Wash-out

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Album Reviews - Britpop and a Surprise

Thursday, December 6, 2012

End of Semester Album Queue

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