Scroll down for reviews of the latest from Brendan Benson, Gomez and Shy Nobleman. Click here for the reviews of the latest from XTC (box set), Clinic, Ben Kweller, The Mooney Suzuki and Kenny Howes and The Yeah.

Toothpaste 2000
Instant Action

(Parasol)

parasol.com

Release Date: April 16, 2002

This Pacific Northwest trio's shiny pop sound is at odds with its name to such a degree that the dichotomy could only be intentional. That they lead off the disc with a track called "Bubblegum" that blends T. Rex simplicity and modern Tommy Keene/Adam Schmitt power pop crunch, upping the ante to such a degree that my immunities have broken down, so please excuse cheesy critical sentiments like ‘Toothpaste 2000 – so sweet you'll want to keep on brushin''. Or ‘Toothpaste 2000 – recommended by four out of five pop fans who let themselves listen to bubblegum'.

Frank Bednash and Donna Esposito co-write the songs and trade off the vocals. Bednash generally handles the more rocking numbers, for the most part, while Esposito's contributions fall somewhere on the graph between Fastbacks and cuddlecore luminaries like cub and Tiger Trap, with a more classic pop orientation than any of those acts. In fact, there will be folks who vastly prefer one of the singers to the other. For me, Esposito's wispier wisps took a bit longer to insinuate, mainly because they didn't sport as many memorable lead guitar figures as the punchy tunes on which Bednash takes the mike. But repeat plays made me appreciate the balance of their approaches – Bednash is the Pop Rocks on the tongue and Esposito is the swig of Coke, together making for some fatally catchy pop (yikes – I should be fined for that bit of hyperbole).
Other bands that come to mind, in no particular order, are Silver Sun, Redd Kross, Sloan, Flashing Lights, Cheap Trick and Buzzcocks. The spirit of the Buzzcocks comes through on the title cut. While not as frenetic as the Mancunian punk-pop godfathers, the song is built on an economical and indelible lead guitar figure, which provides a ‘counterhook' to the bouncy Motownish melody/rhythm combo. An inspired mix.

A great melody overflows on the uncharacteristically urgent "That Kinda Love", where Esposito comes on a bit like Miki Berenyi of Lush. The only thing missing is Lush's intricate web of guitars, but with Esposito scolding over basic rock band sounds, the song is incisive and memorable. Esposito's mood is 180 degrees the opposite on "Guarantee", which is winsome and winning – The Heavy Blinkers should cover this tune – this song is almost all hook, and here, Esposito sounds a lot like Kim Warnick of Fastbacks, so artfully artless you just want to hug the dickens out of her. And "Up Past Bedtime" is a languid rocker that runs Ramones through Holly and the Italians, though Esposito trades Holly Beth Vincent's tough girl act for pure charm. Great song.

Another great song is "You Do & You Don't", wherein a sunny melody is cast atop sharp guitars, while Bednash tells the tale of a ne'erdowell: "You're late for school/you're cutting class/mommy's a fool/daddy's an ass." Fans of the classic power pop sounds of Badfinger and The Raspberries will appreciate the classic structure of "Gurl", which is ‘indied up' just a bit, but the playing is still tight as a drum. And "Mona Lisa Overdrive" is Bednash going to balladland and acquitting himself quite well – this is cast from the same mold as slower tunes from The Andersons.

While I started out the review talking about how sweet Toothpaste 2000 is, they are neither slick nor saccharine. They provide a giddy take on power pop that emphasizes the personalities of the two front people, rather than hip reference points. Which makes them all the hipper, in my book.

Brendan Benson
Lapalco

(Startime)

startimerecords.com

After an unintentional six-year major label induced hiatus, Brendan Benson is back with another salvo in The Battle To Make Melodies Mean Something. Benson's debut One Mississippi was a breath of fresh air back in 1996, but Benson's artistry wasn't fully formed, and while the album was chock full of good songs, a few tunes were more about surface than great hooks. Benson obviously has been growing in during these quiet years, as this album shows off more facets and more skill. Benson can still reel off a sunny rocker as well as anyone, but he can also touch the heart, and does so a couple times here.

Benson gets a big assist from pal Jason Falkner. Benson and Falkner share a similar artistic sensibility, yet one can't help but notice distinctive Falkner melodic tricks on a few of their songwriting collaborations, and these tricks work as well as they always do. To Benson's credit, the strong Falkner imprint does not diminish Benson's own personality or abilities – in fact, it's a bonus, as the mix of the collaborations with Benson's own solo compositions just makes for that much stronger of an album.
One thing I think that Benson does better than Falkner is sell a hook to the max – what do I mean by that? I mean that when Benson finds a good, ultra catchy melodic idea, he knows how to burnish it and exploit it (yep, that does involve some repetition), yet he never overdoes it.

This skill is best displayed on the Benson/Falkner-penned "Folk Singer". The song is keyed by a bridge to chorus combo, with both parts having splendid circular melodies, and internal rhyme lyrics that burrow the song in the brain (stuff like "she said stop pretending/you're not John Lennon"). While plying these two central melodies throughout the song, Benson uses arranging skills, dynamics and production tricks so that even though you're hearing the same melodic parts multiple times, you hear them a different way each time.

Speaking of production, the sound and mix is specific – Benson and Falkner manage to make a record that is dense, like Cotton Mather's material, has a rough, indie charm, like Guided By Voices, but still has enough polish to appeal to the more pure pop crowd. I think this is something that Falkner has been working towards on his own records, but together, these guys have nailed it. The result is a record that is warm and contemporary and cool and classic sounding.

And some of the tunes may be considered classics. Like the sweet bopper "You're Quiet", which melds Fountains Of Wayne skinny tie twee-pop with an Emmet Rhodes-worthy melody, Brendan's vocals positioning him as a coy boy toy (not to be confused with Roy the Toy Boy from the old PBS show The Electric Company) trying to cozy up to a cutie. "What" has an actual blues-jangle guitar base, but Benson quickly guides the tune down the Pure Pop Boulevard – you've heard the basic elements in this tune before, but I'm guessing you've never heard them all in one tune like this. There's some pretty stuff on here – "Metarie" is plaintive and acoustic, with a decidedly Lennonish cast, and a stunning ascending chord guitar part that ups the intensity as the rhythm section comes into the tune, and Benson slips into folk-pop mode, with his voice taking on appropriate rough edges.

Anyone who thinks that powerpop is going to take the world by storm is crazy. But anyone who thinks that it can't reach a bigger audience is crazier. There's Benson, Falkner, Sloan, the Fountains, The Shazam – it's about fucking time one of these artists went from cult status to Cult Stardom. Do your part – buy this record and buy another for a friend.

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Gomez
In Our Gun

(Virgin)

virginrecords.com

Release date: March 26, 2002

This is the first time Gomez's post-modern blues rock has ever made a substantial dent in my brainpan. Prior efforts were slackeriffic – they didn't smoke and didn't even really smolder – they were the rock equivalent to the defrost setting on a microwave oven. This is the third proper Gomez release (not counting the odds and ends Abandoned Shopping Trolley comp) and the band ups the ante. The sleepy grooves are still there, but the band throws a lot more elements into the mix and tightens the songwriting on just enough numbers to move them from pleasant to compelling.

A lot of the magic is achieved by throwing some funky keyboards into the mix. This combined with some compositional flair, nifty production (the album has a ‘one world' flavor that reminds me of some of Big Audio Dynamite's early work) and great lead vocals. When Ben Ottewell gets his throat in full volume mode, he reminds me of Robert Palmer, back in the days when Little Feat was backing him on his albums and he was hungry and inspired. The other vocalists, Tom Gray and Ian Bell, are more standard British tenors, but they also have a great feel for the material.

The album kicks off with a nod to Morphine – "Shot Shot" underpins it's big rock blues with some saxophone and oddball rhythmic tricks that are oh so Sandman and Co. This is followed by "Rex Kramer", which has some of those aforementioned funky keyboards, giving the track a dance floor ambience, but the song slows down into a spooky bottleneck guitar howl and then melds these two disparate parts together, throwing in wobbly horn parts to create a psychedelic gumbo that sticks to the ribs. By the third track, "Detroit Swing 66", Gomez has fully cast its spell. Starting out as a jaunty acoustic number, the band spikes the bouncy sing-a-long with drum-and-bass electronic effects, again, finding a way to tie these seemingly incompatible styles into something cohesive.

I don't want to give the impression that the album is merely a compilation of parlor tricks – it represents what all rock bands should do – take the music that inspires them and find a way to pour it out of their hearts and minds. For some bands, like The Replacements in their Twin/Tone days, it might mean following a Kiss cover with an acoustic ballad. The trickier route is successfully traveled here, as Gomez finds a way to mix and match without coming off as artificial. I have an image of the band in lab coats in the studio, big blunts at hand, concocting another experiment, the songs here have a flow that transcends the thoughtfulness (when clever musical experiments work, they are thoughtful and inspired, when they suck they are contrived – I learned that in RockCrit 101). In other words, all you need to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.
Fans of older Gomez platters shouldn't fret – their relaxed mellow goodness is still intact, and not every song is some pop experiment of the highest order. For all my huzzahs for the bolder stuff that the band tries out, they still retain their classic sense of tunesmithing. So Gomez offers customary blissfests like "Sound of Sounds"; the chorus on this track is pithy and beautiful, with all three vocalists in unison, it is tender and uplifting and perhaps the best song on the album.

What makes this rate so high for me is that it takes all that was good about past Gomez material, but avoids the monochromatic nature of their first two proper albums. They've really broken through artistically, and I hope their in it for the long haul, because there may be even better music ahead. But this is pretty damn good as it is.

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Shy Nobleman
How To Be Shy

(Noble Tunes)

shynobleman.com

The name is real, the title is a fake out, ‘cause Shy ain't shy. In fact, he's audacious, attacking every track on this album with gusto. The young Israeli treats every track like an adventure, supporting his well-written tunes with inventive arrangements that reveal that his staggering talent is matched by a passionate absorption of a couple encyclopaedias worth of pop and rock knowledge. Nobelman is not cowed by the giants who he has obviously studied – instead, he puffs his chest out and in a simultaneous display of coltish energy and bravado, tries to make music as great as the greats – and he does a pretty damn good job of it. This album is a testament to the value of aiming high.

Nobleman not only has the smarts, but his charisma shines through on his performances. While sounding like neither, Nobleman's warbling is of the Bryan Ferry/Russell Mael school – he sings his lyrics with passionate amusement, and though sometimes he's in a different key than the song, he never fails to get back on the beam. This exuberance is matched by the musical performances – imagine some of the spunkiest of the recent vintage of Swedish power pop bands convening with the Who and The Move, with some nifty psychedelic overtones and you're most of the way there.

The joy that emanates from Nobleman's music is also a subject of his music. Take the music hall piano piece "Fireworks Tonight", which is Shy's brief account of "his musical heroes", as he gives props to his grandpa for giving him a turntable and name checks Scott Walker, Eric Carmen, Paul McCartney, and the song winds up with Nobleman going to a friend's birthday party where The Byrds and Big Star are on the stereo, so more ‘friends' were at the party: Michael Clarke, Roger McGuinn and Alex Chilton (hope someone kept Alex away from the bar...). The brass section on the track gives a "Penny Lane" air to the proceedings.

A superstar gets a different kind of name check in "Spring #B", in which Nobleman manages to charm a young lady, on an acoustic ditty with mariachi horns. He reminisces about the rise and fall of this relationship, the best memory apparently coming as the strings kick in: "you were saying Stevie Winwood is you're dad/and he might ask me to join his brand new band/I started laughing/'cos I thought he was dead." Even though this is a relatively ‘softer' number, it still has a characteristic energy, with a spirited vocal and swooping inventive string arrangements.

If you want full bore energy, look no further that "Power Pop Symphony". The song combines a "Do Ya" riff with a counterpoint "Fire Brigade"-ish acoustic guitar fill that is (PUN WARNING) a Move-ing experience. This is power pop made for the wide screen, with big guitars and big vocals. Nobleman throws in a dramatic bridge and even bits of psych-guitar freak out courtesy of RockFour lead guitar genius Baruch Ben Itzhak. Smoking.

Further rave ups include "Sad Song Happy Song", which sounds like a Paul McCartney rocker on steroids, it's so beefy. The lyrics are (again) so witty – within eight lines, he thinks back to when his girl was getting down with his best friend after they broke up, but they end up getting back together and "I am sitting on a tree/you are sitting next to me/holding hands together/and waiting for the kids". Love endures! And "A Nightmare in an Army Group" is a simply dazzler – kind of a psych-glam number, with guitars, guitars and more guitars – guitars twangy, guitars riffing fat riffs, guitars jangling, guitars slamming down a cool descending carnival melody (accompanied by a tinny organ) – this is a magical frenzy that is hooky and surreal and fun beyond belief.

This album is just an embarassment of riches – great arrangements, dense production (Nobleman and Itzhak), intelligent lyrics, and at the center, a dude who is smart enough to know all the Pop Rules, but young enough not to give a shit, and break them when necessary. Shy now joins RockFour as a major Israeli talent – the Koshercore movement is in full effect.

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