So what have we here...another neo-folkie, pseudo-hippie, sort of Celtic, dryly humorous, exceptionally literate pop band? Yup, and there may be more; if this Canadian quintet continues turning out quality discs like this, there will surely be imitators.
This second CD from the Dummies is an improvement over the group's admirable 1991 debut. It features a dozen tunes that sound like nothing you've heard before yet are completely hummable from the very first listening. The melodies are amiably pop, too laid-back to be rock and too upbeat to be ballads. And lead singer Brad Roberts' throaty vocal style—sort of like a Bea Arthur recording played back at slow speed—adds a quirky twist.
Typical Dummies songs ruminate about topics like evolution ("In the Days of the Caveman"), old age ("Afternoons and Coffeespoons") and the intelligence of ducks ("How Does a Duck Know?"). And it's a rare band indeed that can drop words like "cubist" and "dadaist" into a Top 40-friendly tune ("When I Go Out with Artists"). (Arista)
George Jones
In which we find the ol' Possum in better voice than we've heard him in years, which means we actually get about a half-dozen voices, from a taut, tenor twang through clenched-teeth expressions of agony to (the sure goose-bump raiser) a hushed, compassionate whisper.
High-Tech Redneck has two centerpieces: the title track, a novelty rave-up in the grand tradition of Jones's 1959 hit "White Lightnin'," and "The Visit." The latter is country gothic, the kind of over-the-top melodrama—à la "He Stopped Loving Her Today"—that Jones revels in.
Those are the attention getters, but what makes this a good album is the supporting tunes' generally high quality. "I've Still Got Some Hurtin' Left to Do," for instance, is a first-rate country weeper; "Never Bit a Bullet Like This" is almost as tough a rocker as "Redneck." Jones hasn't been well served by recent producers, and respectable material like this goes partway toward repayment to him. Nonetheless, at 62, country's greatest voice still deserves at least one truly classy collection of songs before he packs it in. (MCA)"
Cowboy Junkies
After a brief lift of spirits on 1992's countrified Black-Eyed Man, Cowboy Junkies plunge back into the depths once again. The Canadian group's fifth album shines on a desolate landscape, illuminating everyday people stumbling through life and love. Brimming with references to winter, Pale Sun suggests that both bliss and fear ride on love's coattails.
Some five years after the foursome's first round of applause for their slow-motion reading of Lou Reed's "Sweet Jane," guitarist Michael Timmins has developed into a fine—though sometimes shamelessly erudite—songwriter himself, and sister Margo's vocal range now includes more than a listless whisper. Clenched guitar riffs scrape against her haunting soprano on "The Post," while she could be singing, the spare "Floorboard Blues" right into your ear. These songs are dour, for sure, but when Margo asks, "Have you ever seen a sight as beautiful as a face in a crowd of people that lights up just for you?" on a nearly peppy "Anniversary Song," it's hard not to smile. (RCA)
Chris Walker
I Will Always Love You," "Your Love Is All I Know," "Someone to Love Me Forever," "Love a Little Harder"; it's easy to figure out Chris Walker's thematic obsessions. Surrounding his soothing voice with equally languid arrangements, Walker's sophomore album is a gentle murmur, a soft breeze, a tender nudge—and a bit of a snooze fest. It's not that Walker doesn't have the goods. It's just that he's so sincere, so nice, that he threatens to become the Kevin Costner of R&B: a well-intentioned, New Age good guy, whose rough edges have been buffed to a safe, smooth sheen. When Walker gets around to demanding a little, on the cautiously pumped up "Do Me," you just know that under his silky breath he's whispering "please." (Pendulum/ERG)
- Contributors:
- Craig Tomashoff,
- Tony Scherman,
- Jeremy Helligar,
- Amy Linden.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
