Is it just me, or is indie rock losing all of its edge these days? Itseems in recent months that the indie rock being released lately issuffering from the same illness that affects most genres over time:lack of inspiration. New albums from indie rock bands sound like otherbands from five years ago, but with a different singer, or with alittle more energy on the drums or guitar. They're running out of freshideas, and we all feel it. This new release on Sub Pop, the solo debutof Jason Loewenstein, former drummer of Sebadoh, has it all. The albumis original material, Loewenstein writes jangly, affecting rock, playsalmost all of the instruments, and has a capable voice. It'sunfortunate that it's so goddamned mediocre. It sounds like it was allrecorded with the exact same setup in the exact same room over a weekfive months ago. The guitars sound almost identical on every track, thevocals are at the same level with just a little reverb, and all thesongs rollick right along. But none of it stays with you past the firstfew listens. Nothing here is entirely memorable. Even the "fun tracks"- one is called 'Crazy Santana', and, yes, listening to it producesthat exact response - is stale and not even all that amusing. Iremember five or six years ago when bands like Devilhead were makingmusic that was altogether quirky and odd and had strange subjectmatter, and it was funny and just a little brilliant. You knew everyoneinvolved had taken loadsof drugs, but dammit it was good music. This is like Devilheadmellowing out, making most songs coherent (read: not singing about gayaffairs or covering 'Chocolate Bus' ever again), and just basicallybecoming lame. 'I'm a Shit' doesn't even touch the glory other bandshave perfected when it comes to self deprecation. And the token '80shair metal moment on 'Metal' is carbon copy perfect from bands likeHelloween and Heathen (why did most of those bands start with H or W?),but it goes nowhere, so it isn't even good filler. It's unfortunate,because Loewenstein is incredibly capable and has a lot of potential.And the Sebadoh influence is felt here, but I want him to get out fromunder its shadow. Maybe next time he can bring something fresh to thegenre and surprise us all.
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