After a lot of hectic weekends I
am in the middle of a very quiet one and it is exactly what I needed. I just
got back from a relaxed brunch and now I’m going to write a music review. Maybe
then I’ll take a nap.
Disc 1142 is… Greetings from Timbuk3
Artist: Timbuk3
Year of Release: 1986
What’s up with the Cover? I hadn’t expected quite so much
air in the Air B&B and cleaning up after the donkey every day was less than
pleasant, but at least it had cable.
How I Came To Know It: I came at this album in two ways.
Back in the early nineties I was looking to buy “Eden Alley” (reviewed back at
Disc 814) but it wasn’t available. This album was and although I didn’t
know it, I knew the single “The Future’s
So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades”. I
remember liking that song in high school, so I took a chance on the rest of the album.
How It Stacks Up: I have since acquired “Eden Alley” and now
have two Timbuk 3 albums. “Greetings from Timbuk3” is the weaker of the two.
Ratings: 2 stars
“The Future’s
So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades” ended up being an ironic hit for New Wave
pop band Timbuk3. Over the ten years that followed they’d only crack the top fifty
twice and the top twenty? Never again.
“Greetings from…” is Timbuk3’s first album, which
for some bands represents the high water mark of their artistic career. In the
case of Timbuk3 it feels like a record from a band still trying to find its
feet.
There are lots of good ideas here, with some
interesting syncopation and clever observations, mostly about fairly mundane
things. Haircuts, house pets and watching TV feature prominently. Timbuk3’s intent
is clear – employ boring subjects into social commentary about the world. They
are trying to twist eighties consumerism (already suffering its inevitable
backlash in 1986) and repurpose it to something meaningful.
Unfortunately, the metaphors feel strained. They’re
trying to play off emptiness of the imagery, but instead the emptiness
overtakes them. It doesn’t help that the album’s production is tinny and
artificial. Part of that artificiality is deliberate, but this album needed a
little bit more punch in the low end of the mix to make it work. Drum machines
are bad enough, without taking away what little boom they have.
Timbuk3 is husband and wife team Pat and Barbara
McDonald. Both sing (often in harmony) but neither has strong vocals. The bad
production creates a feedback loop that makes this all the more noticeable. The
style is deliberate, trying to deliver lyrics staccato to establish a New Wave
groove, and at times it works, but not often.
More often I found myself admiring some of the core
melodies but getting frustrated that all that focus on percussion and weak
singing were detracting from them. “Facts
About Cats” has such a pretty little fifties lilt that overcomes both lyrical
and production shortcomings but it is the exception, not the rule.
“Shame on You” is like a cross between the
early rap of Red Hot Chili Peppers and lounge jazz but it doesn’t deliver the
cool factor critical to either of those styles. It feels more like a high
school musical written by the students.
“Life Is Hard”
is one of the album’s bright spots, where the band tells the stories of some
down and outs, including Betty:
“Betty’s in a wet
t-shirt
Feelin’ foolish and
vain
Lookin’ like a
house cat
That got caught out
in the rain
Starin’ into the
mirror
At this less than
pretty picture
Feelin’ ten years
older now
And fifty bucks
richer.”
The song is helped along by a more organic sounding
guitar in the front of the mix (often guitar on the record feels like an
afterthought) and a bit of well-placed harmonica. I wish there were more of
this – both on this song and on the record in general.
As for that hit single, it is clever at first but becomes
less clever with each successive listen, and over the years I’ve heard it a lot.
“Greetings from Timbuk3” is one of the first CDs I ever bought and over the
years this has built up its sentimental value, but on this listen I realized
that sentimental value was not enough. It’s time to let this one go.
Best
tracks: Life is Hard, Facts About Cats
No comments:
Post a Comment