What's the mantra of the local album reviewer? "One listen and you'll..."
It's a line that we use when we don't really have anything to say about a band or when we're copying directly from their promotional materials. (If I had a scanner, my job would be a lot easier.)
Occasionally, in my life of listening to albums, I have been immediately overjoyed by the first 8 measures of an album. Greg Brown's "The Live One," Ben Harper's "Fight for Your Mind," and John Prine's "Common Sense," all dug their claws deep into my medulla and haven't yet let up.
Chalk Splitsville up onto that list. One listen and you'll...
And let's get something straight before I venture any deeper into this review. Splitsville are pure Pop music. And I hate Pop music. As far as I'm concerned, the eradication of Pop music should be the main thrust of the next administration. It causes emotional and intellectual malaise, slows down the economy, pollutes the environment, kills babies, drowns kittens, supports fascism, promotes cock fighting, encourages late night goat beatings, and sucks hard earned money away from alcoholic steel workers who could be spending it much more wisely on their children's education or at the race track.
But you can't deny true inspiration. It leaks out the pigeon holes what I try and shove everyone into.
Okay, Luther:::::Splitsville::::it's like this. Imagine you have a well-written song:::catchy melody:::thoughtless lyrics about love:::the works. You go to the studio. You record the song with all your notes and beats and what not. Then you go to the mixing board and on the board you have the following buttons: the Beatles, the Toadies, Air Supply, and Queen.
Then you hire a monkey to jump up and down on the buttons while you mix out the song.
That's "Manna" the first single off Splitsville's Repeater. Repeater is the fifth release in four years from this Baltimore group which has methodically spread it's influence through the east coast pop scene.
You'll notice that this not a review of Repeater. It is a review of Manna. That's because the cheap rat heads only sent me the single. And presumptuous as they are, they assumed that it would be enough to get into my column.
I guess they were right. And who knows? Maybe they spent all their money on Manna and the rest of Repeater is a collection of cricket noises and knee slaps. I'll never know. Because despite the fact that it is a tax-deductible expense for me, I'm too damn lazy to buy the full album. (Note for the IRS: my business trip to the Cole Field House to see Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell cost $46. Plus $10 for the roofie.)
The rest of the single package includes five other songs from the past couple of years of Splitsville history. A single from a Burt Bacharach compilation put out by their corporate label, Big Deal, and an inspired collection of free-form basement recordings that work as a complete basement ouvre.
Which is where they have gone again. They have completed their Repeater tour and are working hard on the next release.
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