So Cesar was playing this cd the other day, which i originally thought was They Might Be Giants, and so i ignored it, because honestly, they kinda work my nerves. :) but then i started listening and started to like it and i thought, "hey, tmbg ain't so bad after all!" and then i picked up the case, and much to my relief, it isn't tmbg at all, but marcy playground's "shapeshifter".
what a COOL album! is not really for the happy at heart, in fact, in some ways, it would give the golden palaminos "dead inside" a run for its money, but not in the most obvious sense... this album is sneaky, as it all seems pretty upbeat, catchy tunes. not all is as it seems.
"our generation" is possibly the most accurate representation of what it may mean to be a member of my generation: lost somewhere in the middle of that hideous 'generation x' label "... are you a child of the free to be you and me generation/ and are you confused by the world around you/ i am a child of the freetobeyouandme generation/ and i am confused with you..."
for that matter, "wave motion gun" is equally representative of the horrific, yet invisible, heroin invasion that directly and indirectly affected many of "our" lives... did you know someone who was/is doing heroin? no? are you sure? the song itself seems happy and upbeat enough, and maybe that is why heroin in our generation is so scary, the complete nonchalant-ness of the whole phenomenon...
"america" is great anthem-ish piece that i so would replace the "star spangled banner" with if i were queen of the universe. try not to sing along. i dare ya.
there are some some light fun things here: "it's saturday" and "secret squirrel" both could have found themselves on dr. demento's more cerebral lists (this album was released in 1999, but i just found it, sue me for late reviews), the former reminiscent of shel silverstein's "sick", the latter just plain fun.
To be frank, i love this album. all the other songs are great too: i can't listen to "all the lights went out" without picturing myself driving really fast into a sunset somewhere, and "never" pulls all kinds of hurt strings in much the same way nirvana's songs can (if you don't know what i mean, i cannot explain it, and therefore take back the comparison).
The cd also contains four videos for songs not on the actual audio cd... "comin up from behind" (a great song), "sex and candy", "sherry frasier" (another really cool song - ever wonder what happened to that girl in 5th grade? also, wow, what a cool video!) and "st joe on the schoolbus" (another of their radio play songs that i honestly never paid much attention to, but now seems strangely sweet and familiar). all of the videos are from songs on their first album "marcy playground", with the exception of "comin up from behind", which can be found on the "cruel intentions" soundtrack, but nowhere else, which is a not such a bad thing, as it is not such a bad collection itself.
I admit i missed the marcy playground bus. they do have a track on the "jay and silent bob" soundtrack, which hopefully promises more from them in the near future. their homesite makes mentions of a demo as far back as march of this year... but nothing much since. fingers crossed and all that. i am a new fan.
2 thumbs up.
Squeak