Moonpools & Caterpillars - Lucky Dumpling

Name: Moonpools & Caterpillars

Album: Lucky Dumpling

Year: 1995

Style: Alternative

Similar Bands: Cranberries, Belly, Bjork, Velocity Girl, Veruca Salt, Letters To Cleo, Juliana Hatfield, Frente, Sixpence None the Richer

One Word Review: Hiccupy Alt-Pop

Based Out Of: Glendale/LA California

Label: Instant Record, Elektra, Warner Communications, Time Warner, WEA International, Eastwest

Lucky Dumpling - Cover, CD, Inner Photo and Back

Lucky Dumpling - Liner Song List, CD Tray

Lucky Dumpling - Lyrics

Lucky Dumpling - Lyrics

Lucky Dumpling - Liner Notes

Lucky Dumpling - (1995)

1. Hear 3:19
2. Ren 4:10
3. Soon 4:24
4. Trampleing Rose 4:20
5. Colossal Youth 3:51
6. Summertime 2:48
7. Heaven 3:52
8. Sundays 4:05
9. Traveling Song 3:57
10. The Buick 2:18
11. Koo Koo Koo 3:37
12. Jubilee 4:49
13. Crazy Old World 3:33

Album Rating (1-10): 7.0

Members & Other Bands:
Tim DePala - Bass

Jay Jay Encarnacion - Guitars (Fight, Tony Monaco, Brassknucks, Lost Sounds)

Kimi Ward - Vox, Harmonica

Gugut Salgodo - Drums & Percussion

Richard Gottehrer - Producer

Jeffery Lesser - Co-Producer, Recording, Mixing

John Yates - Engineer

Chris Laidlaw - Engineer

Greg Calbi - Mastering

John Heiden - Package Design

David Sheldon - Illustrations

Annalisa - Photography

Lara Hill - A&R

Scott Ross - Management

Unknown-ness: I must have read an article with them prominently displayed in CMJ Music Monthly back in 1995, because this has been sitting on my cd shelf for years, and I don’t remember why I bought it or what it sounds like. I do enjoy the Ren & Stimpy like Log advert artwork, and I appreciate the one band member wearing a Spam shirt…both of these things spoke to me back in 95. I expect it to be some sort of happy pop music, with fun, sweet hooks and polite accents. Maybe J-pop.

Album Review: M&C had minor success when they were first out in 95 when this album came out, but noting to hold the attention of the public or the record company. Some songs of theirs were used in commercials and movies, and they were one of the biggest bands of Philippine descent, featuring two heavy hitting producers (Gottehrer = Blondie, Go-Go’s & Lesser = Lou Reed, Barbara Streisand). The album is a product of its era, and was created to jump on the bill of bands with eccentric female vocals to acompany polite alternative-produced songs.

“Hear” was licensed by Volkswagen. It starts with a Ned’s Atomic Dustbin like bass line, and then crashes into a Letters to Cleo melody. There is a little Cranberries inflection in her voice, but the music is entergetic alt-pop.The vocals are also a little like Alanis Morsette. After 2 sections of verse chorus, the song lightens up and resets itself to rebuild into the chorus again. I remember this song after hearing it again now.

“Ren” begins like a Julianna Hatfield 3 song with a dreamy, loopy melody. The female vocals ride up and down in range at the chorus. This song is more dream pop, and lacks the energy of the first song. There are a lot of chosen hiccups in her voice, which give it almost a yodeling quality.  

“Soon” is brought in with a slow drum beat, and has more Irish style female vocal inflections, and the song floats along as a fuzzy ballad. The end of the song transforms her vocals with an echo enhancement and a harmonica is added to folk things up.

“Trampling Rose” keeps the moonlight ballad feeling going with this watery, row-boat at midnight acoustic guitar loop. The vocals to this song remind me of Juliana Hatfield and Frente. The chorus is a bit stompy and uses the hooting vocal explorations.

“Colossal Youth” begins very pop-punky with a fast, driving Blink 182-ish guitar hook. Once the vocals start, the instruments are pulled back, and gently added back in and it builds up to the chorus, which makes the song feel like something that would have been featured as a Buffy the Vampire Slayer-Nightclub band. The instrumental is highlighted with the electric guitar echoing and playing with the established melody.

“Summertime” was used in Disney’s Babysitters club. It begins with the familiar “Low Rider” harmonic hook. Bass is the heavy carrier for this song, sounding a little like a New Order bassline. It gently glides along, threatening to rock out with energy, but never quite reaching the peak potential.

“Heaven” is a straight up ballad, with an acoustic guitars playing an “I can’t help falling in love with you” melody. The vocals are cutesy and full of life, and walking a fine line of country. This would be the slow dance at the rock show or middle school dance.

“Sundays” kicks in with conga drums, and a tribal chorus singing “Hey-Ya” in the background. The organic spirit is removed once the lead vocals come in. They are mixed up a little too shiny and bright, as the music takes a big back seat to their spotlight. I feel like I may have heard this song too, elsewhere in the past. After a couple of tramples through the verse chorus mix, the backing vocals are brought back to compete with the lead in a cohesive blend.

“Traveling Song” slows it back down with reserved vocals, and a slow, methodic melody. About 1:45, it kicks in (ever so slightly) with heavier guitars and drums, and she experiments with the rollicking and expressive mountain side vocals. The fuzzy guitars stick with the rest of the song, keeping the bar raised.

“The Buick” is a start stopping momentum song at its heart. For short periods, the fuzzy guitars and extra drum licks add in a constant tempo. The vocals, while still sung, are delivered with more of a spoken word, poetic delivery.

“Koo Koo Koo” is so much a jangly, college radio style song that I expect to hear Michael Stipe come in at any second. But after the intro, the guitars give way to vocals and bass/drum’s slow tempo movement. The jangles come back in to support the chorus, and cut out again when it gets to the next verse.

“Jubilee” is a light song with precious Juliana Hatfield style vocals, with a “Walk on the Wildside” bassline. The song jumps into the fast stream at about 2 minutes in with a quickly sung part with vocal skatting and instruments that match the pace and intensity. The song exhausts itself and retreats back to the calm intro style. It finds a middle ground of anthemic intensity and singing in the round to end the song.

“Crazy Old World” ends the album with a very quiet guitar intro and vocals that maintain a quiet volume with small bursts of emotional loudness. The second round of verse finds a jangly guitar and steady drum beat added. It builds to a Sixpence None the Richer climax and just ends the album there.

Stand Out Track: Hear

Links:
WIki

Facebook

Allmusic

Amazon

2014 Reunion Philippine Inquirer-1

2014 Reunion Philippine Inquirer - 2

Jango

picksysticks

Rad Cyberzine

Discogs

Kara's Flowers - The Fourth World

Name: Kara's Flowers
Album: The Fourth World
Year: 1997
Style: Radio Pop
Similar Bands: Maroon 5, Weezer, Fountains of Wayne
"One-Word" Review: Many-Holds-Barred-Pop

Based Out Of: Los Angeles, CA
Label: Reprise, Time Warner, WEA International

The Fourth World - Cover, Liner Photos, CD, CD Inlay

The Fourth World - Back, Liner Photos & Notes

The Fourth World (1997)

1. Soap Disco 2:40
2. Future Kid 4:44
3. Myself 3:05
4. Oliver 2:38
5. The Never Saga 3:58
6. Loving the Small Time 3:32
7. To Her, With Love 2:52
8. Sleepy Windbreaker 3:05
9. Panty Queen 3:46
10. My Ocean Blue 3:11
11. Captain Splendid 5:59

Album Rating (1-10): 6.5

Members & Other Bands:

Rob Cavallo - Producer (Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls, Michelle Branch)

Jerry Finn - Mixing, Engineering Mickey Madden - Bass (Maroon 5)

Jesse Carmichael - Guitar, Vox (Maroon 5)

Ryan Dusick - Drums, Percussion (Maroon 5)

Adam Levine - Vox, Guitar (Maroon 5)

Ken Allardyce - Engineering

Steve Howard - Engineering

Mark Agostino - Second Engineer

Billy Bowers - Second Engineer

Tony Flores - Second Engineer

Barry Goldberg - Second Engineer

Brandon Harris - Second Engineer

Bill Kinsley - Second Engineer

Josh Srebalus - Second Engineer

Mike "Sack" Fasano - Drum Tech

Mike "Micro" Shaw - Guitar Tech

Adam Day - Guitar Tech

Bob Ludwig - Mastering

David Campbell- String & Horn Arrangement

Roger Manning Jr - Keys

Cheryl Jenets - A&R Coordination

Katherine Delaney - Layout

Noah Gershman - Photography

Unknown-ness: I don’t really remember if I had heard of these guys before I bought the album. I got it from a clearance bin at a local record shop back in 1998 which let you listen to the CDs. I got this via my usual chain of events of looking through the bins for CDs that looked interesting, listened to them, and then I bought the best ones (3 for $8). Of course I could have heard one of their songs and then saw the name in the bin too. All I know is that I don’t know why I bought it, and I could not tell you one bit about this album’s sound. The packaging and artwork makes me think of Fountains of Wayne: primary color head shots of the band in suits, and on the back, the band in shadow atop of what appears to be a stadium. Looks good enough, but I’m really basing this on the fact that I must have listened to it and liked it enough to buy it. We’ll see if my listening prowess from over 13 years ago still holds true.

Album Review: Little did I know that this band would become the easy-to-hate Maroon 5. But I must have liked it for some reason…perhaps it is because Roger Manning Jr. plays keys on this, the same Roger Manning from Jellyfish (who apparently frequently works with this album’s mixing & engineering guy Jerry Finn) who I have loved since 1991.
“Soap Disco” was their “single.” And right off the bat, it sounds like Weezer with the catchy harmonic melodies of Fountains of Wayne. The vocals are harmonies and layered in the chorus, and the rest of the song has fuzz, but it is at a very anticipated and controlled level.
“Future Kid” begins at a quieter pace, a slow and reserved ballad that explodes with a pop version of shoe gazing fuzz and drone. But they do not sacrifice the harmonies and melody. The song has a light fakeness to it, where the mood and tone set feels superficial or hollow.
“Myself” has an unusual start-stop melody for the verse, and the chorus builds with harmonized vocals supporting the lead with la-la’s Again, like Fountains of Wayne combined with some green album Weezer.
“Oliver” drives and builds from the get go. It is a very fun pop song. Like an oldie in style sped up a bit and filtered through pop-punk mentality. Then the music backs away for a short, harmonizing show-tuneish section repeating “Oliver.”
“The Never Saga” is built as a complex, layered pop song. On one hand you have crunching guitars and grungy production. But the harmonies and light vocals give the image of a wimpy boy band. And added in the background is an orchestra of strings. The song then transitions into mostly clean and smooth production. And the orchestra takes a bigger, bolder part in the song.
“Loving the Small Time” is a trendy pop song, complete with non threatening vocals and continuous driving beat that give it a false perception that they might be a pop-punk band. It sounds generic, and if I knew what band it sounds like, I could not pick it out from a crowd of radio pop bands.

“To Her, With Love” is a lonely acoustic ballad, sounding a little like a slowed down “More Than Words.” Strings are added in the background to enhance the romance, but the song stays true to its style all the way through.
“Sleepy Windbreaker” becomes a pop song after 30 seconds of quiet, near empty space. Then it is a straightforward driving pop song without any hint of pop/punk elements and lots of harmonies, which even seem to be in overkill usage here.
“Panty Queen” has a slow beginning, but there is a chance that the song could take off. And when it does, it is a cocky, over aggressive melody. And then as if the song knows this, it backs off a bit. The melody reminds me of the verse in the cranberries’ song “linger.” By now, the vocals have become annoying in their pathetic-ness.
“My Ocean Blue” breaks tradition and is more like a sublime song, at least in the beginning, in the verse. The vocals sound like they are slightly echoing, and the guitar has the care free Sublime bounce to it. There is no fake edginess here though; this band leaves its nonthreatening poppiness clear for all to see.
“Captain Splendid” picks up without a break using the buoyant sailboat theme music as its basis. It is quiet and drifting. It gradually transitions to the feeling of being on a carousel in slow motion. There is a little likeness to Blur in the verse melody. Around 4:10, heavy carnival theme guitars pick up the slack, not deterring from the melody, just increasing its power and potency. The energy burns itself out, and the acoustic guitar ends things with a slowed up melody that winds down.

Standout Track: Soap Disco

Links:

Wiki

Last FM allmusic

Album Wiki

Alien Crime Syndicate - Dust to Dirt & From the Word Go

Name: Alien Crime Syndicate
Albums: Dust to Dirt~ From the Word Go*
Year: 2000~*
Style: Alt Rock
Similar Bands: OK Go, Weezer, Foo Fighters, Lit, Dramarama
"One-Word" Review: Frat-Boy-Fist-Pumping
Based Out Of: San Francisco, CA
Label: Collective Fruit~, Will Records*, ADA*, WEA*, Time Warner*

~Dust to Dirt - Cover, CD, CD Case

~ Dust to Dirt - Notes, Lyrics, Tray Picture

* From the Word Go - Cover, CD, Back

* From the Word Go - Notes, Lyrics, CD Tray

~Dust to Dirt (2000)

1. Take Me to Your Leader 3:51
2. What I Said 3:41
3. Outerspace 3:44
4. Some Kind of Way 3:24
5. I Want It All 3:12
6. Tripping Up to the Clouds 3:54
7. Nothing Beats the Surf In 2:12
8. Do It Again 2:46
9. Pimpin the Land 3:15
10. Here With You 3:47
11. Always Running 3:39
12. Atmosphere 3:54

*From the Word Go (2000)

1. Take Me to Your Leader 3:52
2. Land We Made Up 3:13
3. Supergirl 3:25
4. When I Get Home 3:54
5. Outerspace 3:46
6. Always Running 3:45
7. Trippin' Up to the Clouds 3:55
8. In A Dream 3:18
9. Atmosphere 3:50
10. Another Time 3:52
11. Everything Around 4:21
12. Earthgirls Are Cool 4:18
13. Revolving 4:20

Album Review (1-10): ~7.0
*5.5

Members & Other Bands:

Jeff Rouse - Bass, Vox~*Recording* (Loaded, Vendetta Red, Sirens Sister)

Joe Reineke - Vox, Guitars~*, Producer, Mixing~,Recording* (the Meices)

Jason Krevey - Guitars, Vox~* (U Catastrophe)

Nabil Ayers - Drums~* (Long Winters)

Jon Ervie - Assistant Engineer~

Jim DeVito - Mixing

Howie Weinberg - Mastering~*

Gil Norton - Arrangement~Producer, Mixer*

Barbara Mitchell - Publicity~

Jason Sutherland - Design~

Karen Mason Blair - Photos~*

Debera Heesch - CDI Footage~

Scott Corl - Editor of Footage~

Ben Hillier - Engineer, Mixer*

Wade Goeke - Assistant Engineer*

Toby Miller - Assistant Engineer*

Chris Frankfort - Assistant Engineer*

Don Gilmore - Mixed*

Shawn Trudeau - Recording*

Lisa Socransky - Legal*

Anne Dixon - Design*

Josh Gundling - Enhanced Video*

Unknownness: I've never really heard of these guys...but their name and imagery reminds me of something between 311 & Alien Ant Farm, that I can't help but imagine them to be huge douchebags. They have a greasy clean cut look that came off as very superficial back in 2000, which is when these albums are from. The albums have a large number of the same songs, so perhaps one album was self funded and one was a major label release. I'm not looking forward to these albums based on my preconceived stereotype notions. I mean, what's with the "go" cover of hands, a bright light and bills falling from the sky? It is just stupid.

Album Reviews: So apparently, this is the first album they recorded before having their label go under. So they packed up & went to Seattle and recorded a second debut record. Five songs are the same on version 2, so I can leave them out of the second review.

*“Take Me to Your Leader” is quite poppy and catchy, reminding me of a heavier Fountains of Wayne or OK Go. It has a very OK Go chorus of “Here we go” in echoing repetition. But the metal guitars are much heavier than either band would dare produce. It is a shame that the song is based on something so cheesy and tacky as aliens, though.“Land We Made Up” has a nice beat at the outset, but the vocals don’t sound as confident as the music would require. Eventually it balances out at the repeating chorus, with the added texture of horns. It again feels like it could be an OK Go song, just played a little heavier and dirtier, and not quite as daring.
“Supergirl” is quieter and suspicious sounding. It gives a crafty feel and dare I say the vocals sound like Ok Go again? Perhaps that’s the only comparison I can make because it’s in my head. The singing is actually just rhythmic talking over the verse, and the chorus is repetitive and sung with a group vocal effort.
“When I Get Home” is more of a straightforward alt-rock song. This could be a Gin Blossoms song or something equally mundane as that. The majority of the song is not as heavy as the first two songs, but there are a few times when the guitar wails in the background. But again, it’s got a very repetitive chorus.
“Outerspace” has the chugging guitar driving the song on. The vocals are melodic, but not too interesting. The chorus’s shining characteristic is a group effort shouting “Space.” It is kid of meandering song, never really finding its style. Lots of variations are thrown into each verse, but it sounds tried and predictable rather than complex.
“Always Running” begins with a quiet keyboard. And is interrupted with a ringing guitar. The structure of the song is emo, with short sections broken up by pauses which reemerge with an emotional strum. It kinda feels like a Third Eye Blind song.

*“Trippin' Up to the Clouds” is a light pop ballad until the chorus hits. And for a brief moment, it leaves the Goo Goo Dolls boredom and rocks out. The vocals remind me a bit of Dramarama and Soul Asylum. But it is not as good of a song. The instrumental bridge feels like it is going to peter out and just go on forever, but it blasts back in with an injection of power chorus.
“In A Dream” starts with a dancy drumloop, which I guess is the dream that this song is trying to paint. It has nothing to do with the rest of the song. The rest is all power guitars and washed out sound that mimics a dream state. The end of the song builds with increasingly volume whiny guitars.
“Atmosphere” is a constantly building and chugging along song, with more of the Drama-Asylum style vocals. The chorus has a bit of harmonized vocals. And by the second chorus, the guitars explode and shimmer down to the original pitter patter melody.
“Another Time” has an angular dance pop groove that all the kids loved with the Franz Ferdinand. But that fades out after 30 seconds. The pace of the song is fun and bouncy; the melody is kind of catchy. But the vocals are too emo for the song to be considered good.
“Everything Around” starts with a buzzing bee guitar sound. The vocals are whisper-distorted spoken. The spell is broken with the emo call and response chorus. This is what I’d expect to hear on the crappy radio now-a-days.
“Earthgirls Are Cool” has drums and deep bass start it off, distorted, reverbed vocals follow up with a spacey Zooropa vibe. It is liquid and minimal, yet there are a slew of effects that are shot through the song as it progresses. It feels like they just bought a shiny new synthesizer and wanted to put all the cool effects one at a time over the standard drum bass loop. Like a big declaration “This is the shit we’re capable of.” But it is not that exciting.
“Revolving” returns us back to the hard power rock. It is a nicely crafted song, all the spaces are filled with grungy guitars and a bold, cocky vocal melody. Reminds me of a band I liked a lot growing up Fig Dish. This feels like it is right off of a 1996 debut record. The vocals remind me of Dramarama again.

~“Take Me to Your Leader” – see previous album.
“What I Said” continues with the same feeling as the prior song. It’s sung a bit more like a chili peppers song in parts. But it is not as fun or straightforward as track one. It is produced like it is meant to be a 311 song, but does not have any identity of its own like 311 has.
“Outerspace” – see previous album
“Some Kind of Way” begins with jangely guitars and launches into a bland alterna-folk song. The bass in the bridge sounds somewhat like New Order, but only because it has the same sound. The chorus is actually really catchy and deserves a better song.
“I Want It All” has a siren like guitar at the outset. But it stops after 15 minutes and is exchanged for a whiny pop song. Kinda reminds me of weezer or the Rentals, but they are both more competent bands in their prime. The chorus is a cutesy repetition of the title, and it is even brought back into the verse, punctuating each line the second time around. This takes us back to a comparison of OK Go. It is that level of pop, but is not afraid to add heavier guitars. The cutesy repetition gets annoying, but it cuts off abruptly before it reaches the point of skipping ahead.
“Tripping up to the Clouds” – see previous album
“Nothing Beats the Surf In” is a lighter nasally sung song, it starts with a nice sounding beach boys guitar (which returns with the start of each verse). It sounds a lot like this local band I like called Echo Obiter. Then it gets a little more aggressive, and the chorus kicks in with pop-punk power. I get a hint of Goldfinger here, but with nasally polite vocals, rather than aggressive angry vocals.
“Do It Again” kicks off with a wah-wah guitar version of the Breeder’s Cannonball. Then it changes direction to a chugging, building rock song. The wah-wah effect is brought back periodically, as the simple chorus repeats.
“Pimpin the Land” carries the wah wah guitar effect over, but it is layered in the background. This album is definitely more pop punk than before. The tempo is quick and the guitars accent the time changes typical to a punk song design.
“Here With You” has a music box like keyboard start off. The music is slow, but the drum beat is quicker, noting that the song will become faster or bolder at least in the future. And bolder it becomes. The guitars come in and are played like they are climbing a latter of melody: one rung = one strum at a time. This reminds me of Soul Asylum’s middle era work, right before they got big with that MTV hit. The chorus is a little emo.
“Always Running” – see previous album
“Atmosphere” – see previous album

Stand-Out Track: ~ Nothing Beats the Surf In

* Revolving
On Both: Take Me to Your Leader

Links:

allmusic

Wiki

Myspace

Last FM

In Music We Trust - article

Duff McKagan

The Stranger - Q&A

Facebook page

(the) Judybats - Native Son

Name: The Judybats
Album: Native Son
Year: 1990
Style: Adult Alternative
Similar Bands: Ocean Blue, Pixies, Game Theory, Gin Blossoms, Cocteau Twins,
"One-Word" Review: New-Age Gothic Pop
Based Out Of: Knoxville, TN
Label: Sire, Warner Bros., Time Warner

Native Son - Cover, Notes & Tape
Native Son - Liner Notes & Tape

Native Son(1990)

1. Native Son 3:18
2. Daylight 3:18
3. Convalescing in Spain 4:07
4. Don't Drop the Baby 3:41
5. She Lives (in a time of her own) 4:05
6. Incognito 3:02/
7. In Like with You 4:04
8. Woman in the Garden 3:59
9. Waiting for the Rain 4:07
10. Counting Sheep 3:25
11. Perfumed Lies 3:43
12. Wanted Man 4:45

Album Rating (1-10): 5.5

Members & Other Bands:

Jeff Heiskell - Vox (Heiskell)

Timothy Stutz - Bass, Vox (High Signs)

Peggy Hambright - Keys, Strings, Vox, Design, Illustration

Greg Calbi - Mastering

Terry Casper - Drums, Design

David Cook -Additional Engineer

Richard Gottehrer - Production

Chris Laidlaw - Mixing Asst.

Jeffrey Lesser - Co-Producing, Engineering

Jeff Lippay - Asst. Engineer

Johnny Sughrue - Guitar, Vox, Photograhy

Ed Winters - Guitar
Dennis Oppenheimer - Management

Unknown-ness: I know I’ve heard of these guys before I bought this tape, but have never really listened to the tape and don’t know how they sound at all. I’m sure I saw, read about or heard them in some alternative magazine, on W-DRE, 120 Minutes or post modern PST. I also like the artwork on the front of the tape. It reminds me a little of Edward Gorey, and that coupled with the italicized album title make me think that this will be a musically complex/dense adult-alternative album with a gothic tone.

Album Review: It seems that the band was plagued with label disagreements and unhappiness that lead to the demise of the band. Included in the allegations was that the label rudely asked Peggy to lose weight for the image of the band.

“Native Son” begins with bass, and a comfortable melody that reminds me of the Pixies. The male lead and female backing vocals are harmonized together and double layered in the (at the time) popular fuzzy and not quite solid way that prevents you from putting your finger on the actual voice, or how many there are. There are a slew of guitar effects that are used to create depth in the sound.
“Daylight” flows from the acoustic/electric guitar beginning. Like a singer songwriter demo, and perhaps a little like the Gin Blossoms, but not in an extremely terrible way. The vocals are cleaner and stronger, yet still layered and grouped with a chorus in the background. The speed of the singing in some verse sections reminds me of the quick pace that XTC uses on occasion.
“Convalescing in Spain” begins with a harpsichord sounding guitar, and a wha-wha bass. The song then changes gears and becomes an energetic driving pop song like the Bongos/Cucumbers Hoboken early 80’s scene. The vocals possess over- accentuated nasally syllables in each line ending accent. It kind of reminds me of Presidents of the United States. The song’s tempo changed throughout the song and piano is incorporated when things slow down.
“Don't Drop the Baby” is a slightly gothic (thanks to the bass and synth) melody that floats on by via a crystalline breeze. Musically the soundscape they are trying to meet is a pop version of the Cocteau Twins. The song is anthemic.
“She Lives (in a time of her own)” also used the echoing vocals, which are delivered with a powerful prog-storytelling style. The synthesizer keys buried in the background and are less new age, but it still feels meandering and the whole song feels overly complex.
“Incognito” starts with a liquid crystal guitar, medieval and minstrel in the way it is used behind and to accent the vocal melody. This is the quiet lighter raising ballad…or perhaps oversized candle and dream catcher raising ballad.

“In Like with You” begins with more watery sounding happy pop guitar. It has a nice build to the chorus, and the bridge increases the anticipation, and it does deliver well, however, it is not a very long delivery, and the cycle begins again. The instrumental brings us back to the new age mystical trance. This could be a very different song, if it were recorded with a faster punk production, which is very possible, given the progression of the sections.
“Woman in the Garden” is not quite a ballad, but definitely not a pop song. It is a slithering wispy gothic prog song. The song is pretty boring in its stale beauty.
“Waiting for the Rain” is more poppy and fun, but it employs this keyboard effect that sounds like an electric cat whining. It is part bell, and part liquid, but all annoying when the note is held and wavers. There is a chugging guitar in the background that sounds like The Police, and the vocals are fluid and possess a great melody. Then there is the angelic chorus at the end that is followed up with Christmas like synth bells. And the song ends with that terrible effect.
“Counting Sheep” has a fun late-Clash like rhythm to it in short verse sections, but it also uses more cheesy 80’s sounding effects that push it into the realms of new age than pop. And anything fun or catchy is replaced and sucked out with the choices of synth effects.
“Perfumed Lies” features a terrible synth steel drum. The song is nice, uplifting and refreshing: just pleasant. It is not complicated or deep, and ends up feeling a little like a late period English Beat song. This song would do good being sung by Morrissey.
“Wanted Man” begins with echoing anthemic chugging guitar…oh and some new age whistling to suck the life out. Then, for no good reason it added a synth violin that is played at jilting moments. But the song itself is good, driving pop.

The album has promise and the songs could be really good and catchy, if it were not bogged down in the style and odd appeal of the synth effects they decide to use & enhance the songs. Really, the little effects are too distracting and they take away more than add.

Stand-Out Track: Native Son

Links:

Wikipedia

Allmusic

Heiskell

myspace

fan page

Heiskell myspace

Trouserpress

Copacetic Zine

Last FM

(the) Hatters - You Will Be You

Band: The Hatters
Album: You Will Be You
Year: 1995
Style: Jam Band, Alternative
Similar Bands: Animal Bag, "Real Thing" FNM, Collective Soul, Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveller, Barenaked Ladies, Flowerhead
"One-Word" Review: filthy-smug-hippie-jams
Based Out Of: NYC
Label: Atlantic, WEA International, Time Warner

You Will Be You - Cover & Liner Pics
You Will Be You - Liner Notes & Lyrics & Tape

You Will Be You (1995)

1. Dive 3:13
2. Where the Wind 3:55
3. The Naked Song 4:13
4. Statues 4:25
5. Colors 4:10
6. Yeah Bloom 6:52
7. I'll Walk 8:01
8. Skyline 5:09
9. Supermarket Pony 4:04
10. Underfrog 5:50
11. Joy Ride 3:31
12. You Will Be You 11:28

Album Rating (1-10): 5.0

Members & Other Bands:

Adam Hirsh - vocals, guitar (Ahab)

Adam Evans - guitar, vocals

Billy Jay Stein - keyboards, vocals (Strange Cranium)

Jon Kaplan - bass

Tommy Kaelin - drums, Rhythm (Famous Unknown, Gent Treadly, Dreamspeak, Gravity, Ahab, Michael Parrish Band)

Joe Bonadio - Percussion

Peter Denenberg - Backing Vox, Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Water Bottle

Larry Freemantle - Art Direction

John Halpern - Cover Art

Jesse Harris - Acoustic Guitar (Once Blue, Bright Eyes)

Ted Jensen - Mastering

Thom Leinbach - Recording, Engineering

Rory Young - Cello, Sitar
Mbzuki Batswami - Quica
Captain Cranium - Bass
Chunky J - drums
Peter Malkin - Management
David Sonenberg - Management

Wendy Berry - A&R Management

Janet Billig - A&R Management

Nick Ferrara - Legal Advice

Sonjay Kothari - Photography

Danny Clynch - Photography

Stuart Cottingham - Logo

Unknown-ness: I don’t remember when or why I bought this tape. For some reason I think that I thought that they were a ska band. But now, after a little research, I realized they were quite different: a jam band. "Oh man, this is gonna suck" I thought as I began putting this entry together. So why would I have ever bought this? I cannot tell, as even the cover art is kinda lame. The only redeeming quality is the font. Kind of. This is going to be bad, especially if i'm heading into this review with a negative feeling.

Album Review: “Dive” starts with heavy metal guitars. The vocals are similar to Patton’s Real Thing era forced nasally vocals. And this style was used in bands like Animal Bag and other dirty alternative bands of the time. But the verse is almost catchy, in a collective soul way, better than I thought it would be. “Where the Wind” sounds like a terrible Dave Matthews Ballad. It has this holier than thou feel to it, and a snotty, hippie at peace feel to it. It is kinda new age with the piano and light groove. It treads near Hootie and the Blowfish territory as it builds toward the chorus. This is a terrible cringe-worthy song. I’d feel embarrassed if someone were to walk buy and hear this song playing. Damn, the bad band comparisons keep coming. “The Naked Song” sounds like Barenaked Ladies mixed with Blues Traveler. Its all in the vocals, which have lost all potential of being interesting from the first song, and now are run-of-the-mill nasally, grating “yeaahooow” vocals. The chorus is a harmless “take off your clothes, put your birthday suit on” not much more else is needed to be said. I can just picture a band of filthy people kicking around in the dust frolicking and spacing out as this band wastes everyone’s time. Okay, the momentum in “Statues” is pretty good, a bit of Dinosaur Jr guitars, but then the vocals come in and hack the song apart. Well, the hook is not too bad in the chorus. But it is the music here, the driving drums, guitars and bass that keep this song going, unlike typical jam band songs. Piano introduces “Colors” and it is a terrible adult alternative nu-jazzy type piano, and the vocals have that jam band country hickish John Popper style to them that just sucks. It has that smug care-freeness that nothing matters in the world. This is usually a nice way to live or think, but it is the underlying smugness that really makes it feel offensive, if that makes any sense. “Yeah Bloom” starts with a good dark alternative jammy groove, and then the vocals scratch across the song. It fits into the style from bands like Flowerhead back in the mid 90’s “Singles” scene, but it is dated and reminds me why I did not enjoy the Blues Traveler scene back then. This long song has a breakdown that stretches to the end of the song with soaring anthemic guitars that transform into lead metal solos and the piano is played with the same chord over and over again like an alarm.

“I'll Walk” reminds me of U2, with its early morning waking atmosphere. It feels like it will take an hour to finish the song. The chorus sounds like the Steve Miller Band’s “Take the Money and Run.” And it ends with a 30 second fade out with a Middle Eastern vibe. “Skyline” I want to say that this reminds me of Joe Cocker and the Allman Brothers, but I cannot really verify that…I don’t know either Cocker or the Allman Brothers that well. This is a light song that feels like it should have come from the early 70’s, except it is modernized with fuzzed out guitars. Their choice of grand piano sound seems to not be a good choice for a streamlined sound. Even thought I dislike the music, I see what style they are going for. But the piano takes that style and makes it feel like muzak. The funky 70’s jam rock song “Supermarket Pony” sounds much better than the other songs. It is much more like the first song “Dive.” It mixes in the fast singing, rap-rock-metal genra that MTV tried to pin on FNM a few years earlier. The piano is played here and it is much better, jazzy, and it adds to, rather than subtracts from the song. The only problem is that the song should end after about 2:45, but it goes on for another 1:15 of jamming guitar work and echoing chorus. Sloppy sounding guitars introduce “Underfrog.” It is a combination of stoner metal and jam alternative, again popularized in the early mid 90’s with tie-dye and dirty flannel. After what seems like the song will just go in one direction endlessly, the songs breaks pattern and creates a more funky section for the chorus. But it reverts back to the tedious storytelling song pattern, and see-saws back and forth between the two sections. It also adds a spacey-psychedelic new age section that lingers on from about 3:30 minutes for a minute until the chorus is brought back one time more. The song ends with evil crazed laughter cackling. “Joy Ride” could only be described as funky DMB jam music. And this is not a good thing. This song feels like filler, like it was part of a song idea they just fleshed out into a long jam. “You Will Be You” is introduced with a gospel organ and whining guitar. It breaks down into a funky beat and continues on with uncharted vocal range. There are some nice tempo changes and grooves, but the song comes in as an 8 minute song only meant to prove they are a jam band. The guitar lick is catchy, and I could see how it could be played to infinitum. The only problem is that the very catchy groove only lasts for two lines. And the rest of the song that builds around it is not as interesting. The tinkling piano duels it out with the much cooler organ, which obviously wins. But the duel is just part of the long stretching jam to add minutes onto the song, and take years of off your life. The song returns to the chorus for one measure and dives back into the jamming drone that is just so damn tedious. The guitar goes on for the last two minutes, and I don’t feel like giving more of my time to this song.

Stand Out Track: Dive

Links:
allmusic

Artist Direct

The Music Box

Jam Bands

Dreamspeak Kaelin Bio

Jesse Harris Music

Strange Cranium

Hirsh Wedding Announcement NY Times

Blog review

Treeadams (Adam Hirsh)

Jon Kaplan Site