From the Jul 11 – Jul 17, 2002 issue

Music

CD Review Revue

JASON LOEWENSTEIN
At Sixes and Sevens
( Sub Pop)
**
Sebadoh has been the "critic's band" that, no matter how hard I try, I've never been able to go absolutely gaga over--perhaps because I'd seen them live before I ever heard them on record. However, Jason Loewenstein's songs were the ones I preferred over Lou Barlow's, so I thought At Sixes and Sevens would be the ass-kick to the brain I needed to finally get there. And it all goes fine until track five, "I'm a Shit," which begins excellently with a guitar-loaded, self-deprecatingly backward glance at love. But anger turns into digression, and from there on out I'm left with the same familiar feeling. I always wanted more from Sebadoh, but being happy with less was the point of the band. It's the same with Loewenstein, I guess, because his solo debut is just a collection of songs that grow more tepid with each listen. Sebadoh fanatics will find it essential. Once again, the cheese stands alone. KATHLEEN WILSON

THE FLAMING LIPS
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
(Warner Bros.)
****
The Flaming Lips keep getting better--relentlessly so. It'd be tough for any band to top a record like The Soft Bulletin, their lush, orchestral highlight from 1999, but with Yoshimi, a concept album if ever there was one, it's looking like the Lips have a lock on all that's beautiful about pop music. There's no fakery here, no whining, no altruistic weirdness--from discussing an achy lost love ("Fight Test") to expounding on the importance of living in the now ("All We Have Is Now"), this record is so uncompromisingly beautiful, it's almost painful to hear. Like Bulletin, Yoshimi features spacey, chiming orchestral alterna-pop and singer Wayne Coyne's voice, an alien thing that can make even eulogies sound inspirational. "Do you realize that happiness makes you cry?" he asks in "Do You Realize?" "Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die?" While their artier experiments have failed before (like the 40-automobile symphony-- remember that?), Yoshimi and her battle with the pink robots only adds to the charm. Somebody buy these guys some champagne--they deserve it. JONATHAN DURBIN

ORBITER
Sparks on a String
(Loveless)
***
While fans and critics praised the relaxed trip-pop of Orbiter's 2000 debut, Mini LP, I couldn't shake the feeling that their down-tempo beats weren't trippy enough and their up-tempo pop wasn't rockin' enough. Harris Thurmond, Fiia McGann, and their bandmates correct that beautifully on their full-length follow-up, adding spacey, pedal-driven guitar effects and enough foot-tapping beats to satisfy the most craven rock addict. Their propulsive pop gem "Gone" almost sounds ripe for major radio play. I must confess that although Thurmond's low-key voice is perfectly suited for Orbiter's lighthearted rock songs, I love McGann's sultry, sensuous vocals on the shimmering shoegazer track "Get You There," where she harmonizes perfectly with Stephanie Wicker. And don't worry about Orbiter abandoning their trademark trip-hop stylings. Those familiar head-bobbing grooves make their appearance on the laid-back lounge of "Apple Tree" and the expansive, near- instrumental "Happiness," with McGann whispering a quotation from Channing Pollock. DAVID SLATTON

THE GLORYHOLES
Knock You Up
(Empty Records)
****
My favorite punk acts are the ones that sound completely outta their head. They're the ones that affect a rowdy stance, like they're all about screwing and screaming--hyperactive acts that take a scrappy garage aesthetic and make it even dirtier. I like singers who drawl and howl their way through a song; messy overlaps of instruments are excellent, as are CDs that sound so live you might as well be taking elbows to the gut from a sloppily enthusiastic crowd. With those qualifications in place, I love the new Gloryholes record. Singer Doug White sounds cocky, crazy, and a little Mark Arm-ish, strutting his desires and disgust all over this Jack Endino-produced gem. All the instrumentation sounds live here too, like Endino wound everyone up and just let them explode all over songs like "Screamer," "You're So Vile," "Big Fuckin' Rock Machine," and "Food Service Jerk" (and "Ain't It Right," which has shivers of "Search and Destroy" running down its spine). The fact that these guys are local just makes Knock You Up all that much better. JENNIFER MAERZ

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