I have not played this next album as much as KISS' "Destroyer" but that's because this album didn't come out until 1994, so "Destroyer" had an eighteen year head start. It has made up for lost time with heavy rotation since.
Disc 211 is...Bet You Think I'm Lonely
Artist: Wild Strawberries
Year of Release: 1994
What’s Up With The Cover?: It isn't the band. Some little girl gets a hug from a Mom or Dad figure (hard to tell). My guess is this is shortly after the girl has calmed down from a tearful tantrum at some family picnic. This is a typical alt-pop cover in the tradition of Belle & Sebastian (although Wild Strawberries are two years earlier). They depict photos of some scene that doesn't directly relate to the band or album title, but are simply 'arty'. I usually don't go for this, but I find "Bet You Think I'm Lonely" passable.
How I Came To Know It: I saw Wild Strawberries one late night watching Muchmusic's "The Wedge", a program that plays alternative music at late hours (prime time on Muchmusic is principally reserved for the worst the pop and hip hop world has to offer). They had a low budget video for "Life Sized Marilyn Monroe" and I loved the song. I wrote the title and band down and carried it around for the better part of a year until I finally found this album.
How It Stacks Up: A quick check of wikipedia (which as we know, is never wrong) reveals seven full length albums for the Wild Strawberries, although most look independent and hard to find. I have three of them, and of the three I think this is narrowly my favourite over number two.
Rating: 4 stars
"Wild Strawberries" are a Canadian alt-pop band comprised of a husband and wife team, Roberta Carter Harrison, and Ken Harrison. Ken writes the songs and plays keyboards, and Roberta sings. I'm not much of a keyboard expert, but Roberta Carter Harrison has a sweet voice, capable of being low and breathy or sweet and full when she's in her upper register.
I liked this band the first time I ever heard them, and when I finally had the whole record, it did not disappoint. Their sound is indie synth pop - bringing together the brooding haunting rock sound of Concrete Blonde, the indie pop of Rilo Kiley and that kind of detached R&B/funk sound that Beck does so well.. They are hard to quantify, but very good and deserving of considerably more commercial success than they enjoy.
The topics are often dark; the record opening with a song about a murder-suicide called, "That's The Way It Goes." At least I think its a murder-suicide. I've listened to it a hundred times, and just spent the last fifteen minutes poring over the lyrics (kudos to bands that print their lyrics). I'm now not sure if it is murder-suicide, or a double murder framed to look like one. The album ends with a song called "Angel Came Tumbling Down", which is about some single mother meeting a sad end in a small town. Both songs are depressing, but very good.
Another stand out is "Crying Shame" a song that opens by personifying what job loss feels like:
"Jenny lost her job on labour day
She looks so disconnected by she's really afraid
'My, my money's gonna fade away'
She says, 'Oh, what a crying shame."
And ends with a more general sense of the varied ways we view the truly down and out as we pass them on the street:
"Sometimes it's a dollar for the man outside the mission
Sometime's it's a fleeting note of social decay
Most of the time it's just peripheral vision
Oh, what a crying shame."
Knowing a few people who've lost their jobs this year through no fault of their own(including my lovely and wonderful wife) this song bit a little deeper this time around. It highlights how emotionally traumatic the experience is, and reminds us that wherever we're at on the wheel of fortune, we've got to hang together.
As for the Wild Strawberries, they voluntarily gave up jobs as a physiotherapist and a doctor to pursue their music careers, which scores pretty high on the bravery scale. Last I checked, Doctors do a lot better than Canadian indie bands.
It speaks to how the Wild Strawberries are willing to take risks to achieve what they want. These risks have never paid off financially, but on "Bet You Think I'm Lonely", they pay off artistically with a solid record I'll be putting on for many years to come.
Best tracks: The Way It Goes, Life Sized Marilyn Monroe, Bet You Think I'm Lonely, Crying Shame, Cinnamon, Angel Came Tumbling Down
Disc 211 is...Bet You Think I'm Lonely
Artist: Wild StrawberriesYear of Release: 1994
What’s Up With The Cover?: It isn't the band. Some little girl gets a hug from a Mom or Dad figure (hard to tell). My guess is this is shortly after the girl has calmed down from a tearful tantrum at some family picnic. This is a typical alt-pop cover in the tradition of Belle & Sebastian (although Wild Strawberries are two years earlier). They depict photos of some scene that doesn't directly relate to the band or album title, but are simply 'arty'. I usually don't go for this, but I find "Bet You Think I'm Lonely" passable.
How I Came To Know It: I saw Wild Strawberries one late night watching Muchmusic's "The Wedge", a program that plays alternative music at late hours (prime time on Muchmusic is principally reserved for the worst the pop and hip hop world has to offer). They had a low budget video for "Life Sized Marilyn Monroe" and I loved the song. I wrote the title and band down and carried it around for the better part of a year until I finally found this album.
How It Stacks Up: A quick check of wikipedia (which as we know, is never wrong) reveals seven full length albums for the Wild Strawberries, although most look independent and hard to find. I have three of them, and of the three I think this is narrowly my favourite over number two.
Rating: 4 stars
"Wild Strawberries" are a Canadian alt-pop band comprised of a husband and wife team, Roberta Carter Harrison, and Ken Harrison. Ken writes the songs and plays keyboards, and Roberta sings. I'm not much of a keyboard expert, but Roberta Carter Harrison has a sweet voice, capable of being low and breathy or sweet and full when she's in her upper register.
I liked this band the first time I ever heard them, and when I finally had the whole record, it did not disappoint. Their sound is indie synth pop - bringing together the brooding haunting rock sound of Concrete Blonde, the indie pop of Rilo Kiley and that kind of detached R&B/funk sound that Beck does so well.. They are hard to quantify, but very good and deserving of considerably more commercial success than they enjoy.
The topics are often dark; the record opening with a song about a murder-suicide called, "That's The Way It Goes." At least I think its a murder-suicide. I've listened to it a hundred times, and just spent the last fifteen minutes poring over the lyrics (kudos to bands that print their lyrics). I'm now not sure if it is murder-suicide, or a double murder framed to look like one. The album ends with a song called "Angel Came Tumbling Down", which is about some single mother meeting a sad end in a small town. Both songs are depressing, but very good.
Another stand out is "Crying Shame" a song that opens by personifying what job loss feels like:
"Jenny lost her job on labour day
She looks so disconnected by she's really afraid
'My, my money's gonna fade away'
She says, 'Oh, what a crying shame."
And ends with a more general sense of the varied ways we view the truly down and out as we pass them on the street:
"Sometimes it's a dollar for the man outside the mission
Sometime's it's a fleeting note of social decay
Most of the time it's just peripheral vision
Oh, what a crying shame."
Knowing a few people who've lost their jobs this year through no fault of their own(including my lovely and wonderful wife) this song bit a little deeper this time around. It highlights how emotionally traumatic the experience is, and reminds us that wherever we're at on the wheel of fortune, we've got to hang together.
As for the Wild Strawberries, they voluntarily gave up jobs as a physiotherapist and a doctor to pursue their music careers, which scores pretty high on the bravery scale. Last I checked, Doctors do a lot better than Canadian indie bands.
It speaks to how the Wild Strawberries are willing to take risks to achieve what they want. These risks have never paid off financially, but on "Bet You Think I'm Lonely", they pay off artistically with a solid record I'll be putting on for many years to come.
Best tracks: The Way It Goes, Life Sized Marilyn Monroe, Bet You Think I'm Lonely, Crying Shame, Cinnamon, Angel Came Tumbling Down
1 comment:
I really like this album (and "Heroine") and band. You forgot to mention that we saw these guys live (with Nick and Casey).
Thanks for the mention, love. :)
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