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Aggielife
Wednesday
Page
September 3,199
IS SI C /o^EVi^:
5
Eels
Beautiful
Freak
Dream Work
aTW
Records
The lyrics “life is hard and so am I” are
hard to forget.
So are the musicians who perform
them, the Eels. The Los Angeles pop-soul
band recently released its debut album,
Beautiful Freak.
The Eels are not the mainstream rock
that has polluted today’s society. It has a
different approach to everything, aside
from the band’s music.
The musicians said they use their first
names to be on a more personal level with
the listeners.
Lead vocalist/guitarist/songwriter E,
drummer Butch, and bassist Tommy met at
an open mike night at the Mint, a Los
Angeles club.
In early 1996, the band signed with
DreamWorks Records and produced
Beautiful Freak with Michael Simpson,
known for his work with Beck and the
Beastie Boys.
Beautiful Freak is an excellent album
because of the diversity of the music.
Surprisingly, it can be angry, sad, upbeat
and funky, all in the same song.
Most of the songs have a little bit of
hip-hop and pop, but also bring
Pet’s self-titled, debut album is some
thing die-hard Tori Amos fans would rush
out and buy, but for the rest of the music
listening population, Pet will take an
acquired taste to appreciate.
Pet plays mostly made-for-the-radio,
dissonant pop music, adding drums and
loud guitars to very Amos-like vocals
from Pet lead singer, Lisa Papineau.
It comes as no suprise that Amos
produced Pet through her pet project,
Igloo Records.
In the better points of the album, it
sounds like the red-headed goddess,
Amos, took over the mike and sang the
songs herself. Papineau manages to
emulate Amos by using a wide range of
vocals. Her voice will stay low and
breathy and then, suddenly, will raise
into a high pitch of anguish, before drop
ping down again.
Papineau’s voice is a definite benefit to
this album.
The lyrics carry a similar Amos-
esque appeal.
Written on the inside the compact
disc’s cover, the lyrics look like free verse
poetry taken directly from Papineau’s
personal journal. Many of the lyrics deal
with self-realization, liberation and are
surrounded with a strong air of sexuality.
Papineau seems to be asking for a way
out of an anguished state in “Bed” where
she screams, “I’m not here/I’m
nothing/I’m not here.”
Later, she counters her angst-ridden
self-loathing with a more poetic tale
about feminine identity in “I’ve Been a
Gaylord.” Papineau sings, "Or will you
just zip into his empty skin?/Plant up his
lonely bones and be his puppet ghost?”
Sarah Mclaughin and Alanis
Morissette would be proud.
The downside of the the album is the
band that backs Papineau.
Pet guitarist Tyler Bates and drummer
Alex LoCasio are not terrible at their
trade, but they fail to meet the musical
ingenuity found in Papineau’s vocals.
Pet has three mellow songs on the
album that make the compact disc worth
paying 25 cents at Hastings to preview
the album. “Meat*e,” “I’ve Been a
Gaylord” and “Calmate!” emphasize the
vocal strength in the band and leave the
music in the background.
Too bad the band didn’t do more of
this on the album.
Bates and LoCasio sound like they
hailed from a nearby garage band. The
music is made up of loud, driving guitars,
and Bates has a tendency to repeat the
same note throughout the entire song.
It seems like Amos’ talented ear
should know a good band when it hears
one, but the music of Pet could use some
fine-tuning.
Perhaps the band is on its way.
Pet had an album track on the soun-
track to the movie, The Crow: City of
Angels, along with Hole, PJ Harvey, Bush
and a host of other well known bands.
Yesterday, the band’s self-titled album
was released to music stores.
Under the watchful eye of Amos, Pet
has the potential to blossom into a band
making people weep from its brilliance.
But not yet. B - Lite Goad
Agi
reminders of the depression in the world j
today, especially the depression young j
people face. The title track “Beautiful I
Freak” is a sweet, slow love song — a defi
nite contrast to the rest of the album.
“Susan’s House” talks about a 17-year-
old girl who is walking down the street
pushing a baby stroller. “I’m thinking it’s |
her sister,...right?" E sings.
E proves his talent as a songwriter with
thoughtful and meaningful lyrics.
In "Flower,” E sings, “When I came into
this wo ey slapped me, and every day
since then, I’m slapped again...Everyone is
trying to bum me out."
The popular song, “Novocaine for the
Soul," is about someone wanting to be
numb and not having to deal with depres
sion and unhappiness. Unlike the protago
nist in the song, E said he would rather con
front pain directly.
“I’m trying to put something in the music
that says it’s okay to be sad today,” he said.
The Eels album is an excellent display
of talent and creativity. The songwriting is
good, as well as the precision of the
instruments and the overall flow of the
band as a whole.
The music of the Eels involves several
instruments, such as the French horn, a
drum made from a heating duct and a fire
alarm bell. With the variety of instru
ments, the Eels are able to create different
sounds and styles. The Eels also use a con
siderable amount of sampling on the
album. B+ - April Towery
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