CD Odyssey Disc 1304: The Weepies

The days are getting shorter and the weather’s getting colder, but this next band served to brighten my spirits.

Disc 1304 is… Be My Thrill

Artist: The Weepies

Year of Release: 2010

What’s up with the Cover? Dear God, what is that thing? At first I thought it was a mutated sheep, but Sheila suggests it is an albino warthog. It is supposed to be cute, but it looks more like nightmare fuel to me.

How I Came to Know It: My friend Casey played some Weepies songs at a night of music listening a couple years ago. I really liked what he played and delved into their catalogue with enthusiasm. This was one of the records that emerged.

How It Stacks Up:  Last time I reviewed a Weepies album (January) I had two Weepies albums. Now I have three, and I’m on the lookout for a fourth. For now, “Be My Thrill” ranks third.

Ratings: 3 stars

“Be My Thrill” is candy for the soul. It doesn’t have a lasting emotional impact, but it is a tasty treat while you’re in the moment.

The band is composed of married duo Deb Talan and Steve Tannen. If their similar last names seem a bit too cute for mere coincidence, well, so does their music. They play indie pop that is – to quote from of the album’s songs – “made for sunny days.” Together they write light-hearted pop ditties that are sneaky good. Earworms that sound like they belong on the soundtrack of a romantic comedy. When they’re at their best, they make you feel like you’re in one.

Much like on their 2006 album “Say I Am You” (reviewed back at Disc 1221), the songs can have a melancholy twinge from time to time, but they handle sadness gently. The album’s first track, “Please Speak Well of Me” is a good example, a breakup song that asks for a parting on good terms, even though the circumstances were bad. The chorus sums up the Weepies well:

“Don’t say words that you don’t mean

When I’m gone please speak well of me.”

You couldn’t get much nicer if you tried. The narrator is both polite (she says ‘please’) and honest (she only wants her ex to say good things if they’re true). If only all break ups went this well.

“I Was Made for Sunny Days” is another standout; a whimsical love song filled with a folksy guitar strum and Deb Talan’s sweet lilting vocal. “Hummingbird” is another love song, this time with the up-tempo flutter evocative of its title. Themes of these songs aren’t any more complicated than “you make me happy” and the slightly more complicated “I’m a bit flighty, but not around you.” The songs feature happy conversation in the rain and thimbles filled with wine. It is just that damned dear, but so filled with love and kindness you don’t mind.

When the Weepies do try to get edgy, as they do on “How Do You Get High” the effort falls short. The groove is supposed to be ominous and insistent, but if it is digging deep, it’s only one thimble at a time. The song mostly had me wishing that there was a little more darkness on the record.

Of course, that’s the wrong thing to be wishing for. “Be My Thrill” is filled with stories that are snappy and fun. They are sneaky good as well, with a sparse production and a great sense of timing. They stick with you and encourage you to listen to them again. It isn’t easy to write pop songs this catchy.

No time is wasted either. The songs get going and done in a hurry, with the whole record clocking in at a fulsome 14 songs, but an easily digestible 38 minutes. Few exceed three minutes, and most are closer to two; sixties radio would have loved these two.

I loved them too, and while I like my other Weepies records slightly more, this one will definitely get pulled out on a dark winter evening or two, when I need a little extra sunshine.

Best tracks: Please Speak Well of Me, I Was Made For Sunny Days, Be My Thrill, Be My Honeypie, Hummingbird

CD Odyssey Disc 1221: The Weepies

Sometimes an album can sit in my collection for years before the dice gods say I should roll them, and sometimes they get called upon within the first week or two. This next album is one of the latter.

Disc 1221 is… Say I Am You

Artist: The Weepies

Year of Release: 2006

What’s up with the Cover? Two birds meet and fall in love. It is all very dear.

How I Came To Know It: My friend Casey played one of their songs and I liked what I heard. That song is on this album!

How It Stacks Up:  I have two Weepies albums, but they are both so new to me it is hard to stack them up. Because I enjoyed it a lot, I’ll say this one is the better of the two but I may change my mind. It is my blog, after all.

Ratings:  4 stars

Is ‘twee’ ever a good thing? Before I heard “Say I Am You” I would have been inclined to say no, but the Weepies do such a good job of it they made me rethink that position.

The Weepies are husband and wife team Steve Tannen and Deb Talan and together they make a folk-pop record that is as light, airy and sweet as a perfectly baked pastry. This is a record made for sunshine and ocean breezes. It is good for a walk in the rain as well, although you should ideally be wearing bright pink or yellow gumboots.

“Say I Am You” goes for a very stripped down approach (there is only two people in the band, after all) with a lot of songs just Deb and Steve singing along to a single strummed guitar, or maybe a bit of string or piano in the background. Less is more here, because too much business would interfere with the simple soulful picture the songs create for you.

Lyrically there is no mighty literary prowess. The songs are light on metaphor, and the metaphors that are there are well-worn or generic. In this way, “Say I Am You” reminded me of a modern pop album, where the writing is kept very high level to encourage universal appeal. Over a third of the songs here have been used in the soundtracks of movies or TV shows, so the universal appeal thing is definitely working for them.

However, there is more going on than just this. While there isn’t a lot of new ground being covered, the Weepies pull it together in a touching and resonant way. The melodies of the songs have a sing-a-long charm and feel timeless and compelling. Talan’s voice in particular has a good mix of hurt and sugar. It isn’t all-powerful like Patty Griffin and it doesn’t bowl you over emotionally like Emmylou Harris. It draws you in and gives you comfort, like a call from a friend on a Sunday afternoon when you’re feeling down. Maybe there’s no better example than this line from “Painting by Chagall”:

“Sometimes rain that’s needed falls

We float like two lovers in a painting by Chagall.”

Is that all a bit precious? Yes, it is, but somehow it works when you hear it – and I don’t even like Chagall that much.

I admire “Say I Am You” in part because they don’t mess around. The songs have a message – both lyrically and melodically – and they get right into it without a lot of intros and outros. This is rare, with a lot of indie music, which can tend toward half-formed thoughts and a lot of added clangor and distraction in place of completing them. Here the songs are quick (nothing longer than 4:13 with “Suicide Blonde” clocking in at a mayfly-like 1:36) but they live a lifetime in their brief time between your ears.

Your enjoyment of this record will be directly proportional to how willing you are to overlook the sugarcoating. Even the sad songs seem weirdly comforting. “Nobody Knows Me At All” is a song of isolation, but it also creates a community of the misunderstood. Kind of like Emily Dickinson did when she wrote:

I’m Nobody! Who are you?

Are you – Nobody – too?

Then there’s a pair of us!

The Weepies get this, and they get you too. If they don’t get you, then at least they make you realize you’re not alone in your aloneness.

There is a lot of music out there about uncertainty and doubt, but very little of it is wrapped in an embrace of hope. And that sugarcoating might appear dear, but once in a while we need a community of the pale and wan, rather than isolation. I enjoyed letting the Weepies might make me feel uncertain, while they simultaneously gave me a great big hug to let me know everything was going to be alright.

Best tracks: Gotta Have You, World Spins Madly On, Citywide Rodeo, Painting by Chagall, Nobody Knows Me At All, Not Your Year, Slow Pony Home