In case you don't know the days of the week, today is Monday, which means new album releases tomorrow and new album reviews. Hopefully I'll be writing about Jakob Dylan's, The Infamous Stringduster's, or Emmylou Harris' new album. Just depends on which of the three is easier/cheaper to get my hands on.
But for this review I'm going back in time about 12 years when Eels was a new band and this album, Beautiful Freak, just came out. In some ways, listening to it feels like listening to an old friend. The songs are smooth. Something you can ignore for good background music, or get really into. They're catchy, but not necessarily in an upbeat hooky way. The title track, Novocaine For The Soul is a prime example of this.
It starts with a "what the hell?" sort of intro. Then it launches into the real song. And it's like heaven. The way E sings Novocaine is blissful. The lyrics are a love supreme (Jesus and his lawyer are coming back). I mean, how can it get better than this? Easy: My Beloved Monster.
Yes, the Shrek song. I don't care if Shrek had it. I love that movie, and I love this song. It's amazing. Incredibly sweet.
Another highlight of the album is Susan's House. I guess I got a little out of order, as this is the second song. It's one of those songs where there's a sung chorus and the verses are spoken over a beat. What makes it amazing is how it deals with the things that we tend to look away from in society, such as the mentally ill. It does this without becoming preachy or admonishing. I mean yeah, it's a depressing song. But it's a damn fine depressing song.
That's really the feel for the whole album. It's not a very happy album, though a couple of the songs (My Beloved Monster, etc.) are sweet songs. Despite the generally somber themes, every song will stick with you, in a good way. The tight production makes every beat dance by itself. I'd recommend this album in a heartbeat.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment