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reviews

Belle and Sebastian Sing... Jonathan David

Belle and Sebastian have long been accused of aping The Smiths, thanks in part to their sleeve designs, their pattern of singles releases, and their not so ambiguously gay lyrics. With their Jonathan David CD EP, the band tempts the comparison once again: after some early cheeky brilliance, they have begun to suck.

The title track, which is sung by some other dude instead of most-frequent lead Stuart Murdoch, spins out a metaphor for a friendship based on an obscure (at least for this secular fella) Bible story. It's a strong candidate for the worst song in the band's repertoire. Murdoch's fey, world-weary vocals are one of the strengths of Belle & Sebastian and they are missed here. Murdoch does sing on the two "b-sides," but both are tepid and unmemorable next to the band's better work. Makes ya wonder if Murdoch's equivalent of Morrissey's Viva Hate is looming on the horizon. (Matador)

— Fred Wheaton (08/01)

Temporary Shelter, the third album by former trucker Johnny Dowd, continues his exploration of the dark underside of the gothic country landscape.  Dowd takes the classic topics of traditional music — love, murder, drink, and heartache — and pushes them into an even darker place.  His voice, off-key and strained, conveys a tension and quiet urgency to his lyrics.  Backup singer Kim Sherwood-Caso is once again featured prominently.   Her fine soprano, used as a counterpoint to Dowd's less than savory vocals, provides a firm island of melody and tone around which a sea of discord thrashes. While still appealing, Temporary Shelter doesn't feel as cohesive as Dowd's previous CD's, Wrong Side of Memphis and Pictures From Life's Other Side.  It covers much of the same ground without introducing anything new to the landscape.  Two very long dirge-like songs interrupt the flow of the CD and allow the listener's mind to wander, destroying the sense of dire immediacy that Dowd is able to invoke. It's a good album. The first two were great. (Koch Records)

— Wayne Wise

Originally appeared in In Pittsburgh Weekly 04/08/01. Reprinted by permission of the author

The Beta Band - Hot Shots II

In the movie version of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, there's a scene in which record shop owner John Cusack introduces his clientele to the Beta Band. He tells his clerk that he will "now sell five copies of The Three EPs", and proceeds to set heads a-bobbing in the store when he plays the song "Dry The Rain" (skipping to the end of the song, apparently for maximum bobbage). Well, I fell for his salesmanship and bought the disc, a compilation of the three extended players released by the Band at that point. "Dry the Rain" was the best track on it, of course, but I liked it enough to seek out more.

I skipped over their first full-length, about which I read some mediocre reviews, and went for 2001's Hot Shots II—which is not, as the title may suggest, a K-Tel collection or a soundtrack to a porn movie. But it does act like a soundtrack: rather than commanding my listening attention, its low-key vibe throbs quietly in the background. It's more tuneful on the whole than The Three EPs, and even contains a deconstruction of Three Dog Night's "One," retitled as "Won" here. (Astralwerks)

— Fred Wheaton (08/01)