I'm on top of the world for a while, and I'm undefeated

[vovat]

So, I received and listened to two new albums the other day, and I have some thoughts on them.

The first was Sgt. Major's debut album, Rich, Creamery Butter. (I don't think the comma belongs in that title, but that's the way they punctuate it. I do think they get bonus points for using a Simpsons reference.) I wouldn't say it blew me away, necessarily, but I will say that Kurt Bloch has a definite knack for writing insanely catchy songs. "Underneath It," a song I had actually heard before getting the album, is one particular number that's difficult to get out of your head (and I mean that in a good way). It's different from the Fastbacks and Kurt's Young Fresh Fellows songs, but there are some definite similarities as well. The lead singer is called Carmella, with no last name given. The odd thing about that name is that, in one of my Sims games, I named a character "Karmella," without realizing it was a real name. Since then, I've heard of more than one person having that name, or a close variation thereof. Maybe I'd heard it before I named the character, and just couldn't remember. But I digress.

The other album is Johnny Hickman's first solo effort, Palmhenge. I'm not sure what I think of it. I like the overall sound (I guess you'd call it "alt-country," although I've never been quite sure what that term actually indicates), but so far, none of the songs have really grabbed me. I'm disappointed that it doesn't include that "Costco Socks" song that Johnny did when I saw him live. Oh, well. It's different from Cracker (even the Cracker songs that Johnny wrote), but it's pretty good in its own way.

EDIT: Oh, I almost forgot. Today is L. Frank Baum's birthday. If he were still alive, he would have turned 149.

Comments

[revme.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure the comma doesn't belong either, but I've actually seen it in non-Sgt. Major contexts with it, so, I suppose "creamery" could be an adjective instead of "creamery butter" being a compound-noun. But I always figured it was "butter that came from a creamery, perhaps rather than a straight dairy or something", rather than a corruption of "Creamy". But, hey.

With Sgt. Major, it might help to see them live, too -- I sorta was pre-warmed-up to all the songs by the time the record came out, just because I'd seen them a bunch. But, you know, that's a bit of a commute for you, so...8)

It seems a little closer to the Fastbacks stuff -- maybe a little poppier -- but I like Carmella's vocals better than Kim or Lulu's. It seems pretty different from his Fellows songs, which is kind of funny since there's more Fellows (2) than Fastbacks (1, plus the drummers are often Fastbacks drummers) in the band. I've found, though, that the album isn't one that Instantly Clicks (when I first heard it, I was "Oh, this is pretty cool", but it took me a while to listen again, but now, I listen to it rather frequently). So, yeah, it's cool you got it, though! And, yeah, I think "Underneath It" is probably my favorite song from the record. It's such a great one.

As for alt.country, it basically seems to be stuff that's closer-in-sound to the old country rather than the new stuff (which is basically Pop By Someone Who May Or May Not Have Or Have Had A Southern Accent). I think there might be something with song-topic type stuff that differentiates alt.country from just Country, but I'm not really sure. I think it's just that Country has become alt.country, just because Pop Country sort of co-opted the term for its own brand of hideous crap. (Although, I think, say, Merle Haggard or Johnny Cash are grandfathered into just being Country, rather than alt.country, just because that'd be sorta weird. Even though the stuff they do is closer to alt. I think Dwight Yoakam's successfully made the Genre Switch, though, for what it's worth.)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think describing Sgt. Major as a poppier version of the Fastbacks is pretty accurate.

I just rewatched the making-of video on Countrysides, and there's one part where David Lowery says that it isn't an alt-country record, because alt-country focuses more on the "cerebral, esoteric, introspective sort of side of country music." I think I'd describe Johnny's album as both more cerebral and more traditional than what you typically hear on ClearChannel country stations, though.

[revme.livejournal.com]

Yeah -- I think Sgt. Major are sort of the Fastbacks if you replace the punk aspects of their "punk rock" side (they weren't really straight punk, but seemed to borrow more from that tradtion) with "pop rock".

Ah -- I actually haven't ever gotten around to watching that. I've got the album, and I love the music side of it, but never threw in the video side of it. But I think that'd make sense, and sort of explain, say, the difference between The Handsome Family and normal Country. Since it's pretty clear that there's Some Sort Of Intangiable Quality that makes them different than most Real Country, and it's not just the drum machine. (But, yeah, I'd hope that Johnny's more cerebral/traditional than what's on CC Country stations, since, well, it'd basically be hard to not to be, heh. Jesus, that stuff is _awful_.)

[aliste.livejournal.com]

I've never been a big fan of Johnny Hickman's songs that he's done with Cracker. I do enjoy watching him play the guitar, but it just seems obvious to me that David Lowery is simply a much better songwriter and should therefore be allowed to do have his own way in everything. :D

[vovat.livejournal.com]

While I'm also a bigger fan of David's songs, I think Johnny has done some good ones with Cracker. "Mr. Wrong" and "Trials And Tribulations" are two that stand out for me.