A rerelease from 2000, $100 Room is awkward, rough, and soundslike a demo recorded on a crappy 4-track in someone's rec room—andit's also beautiful. The cover image echoes the songs inside: roughlyscrawled and amatuerish, but sweetly so.Hush
Singer/songwriter Ben Barnett produces spare, emotionalpop/rock, and Kind of Like Spitting is what every high school emo bandthinks they are. The music goes from simple, quiet country-tinged folk to raging guitarsthat nearly overwhelm Barnett's plaintive and charmingly-out-of-tunevocals. The often-poetic lyrics speak of sadness, hope, love, anddeath.
Barnett repeats a handful of lines in three songs—"Hook," Hoax," and "Cater"—but eachtime there's a different spin. They make up the complete lyrics of"Hook" and "Hoax," the spin there given by the titles; the line "You socomplete, so much cooler than me" takes on a new light when considering the song title.The closing track, a cover of Billy Bragg's "Little Time Bomb" fitswell with the band's sound and meshes easily with the rest of the album.
The overriding feeling throughout $100 Room is one ofsomeone trying to find his way through a sometimes desolate world, butstill he's finding it. A statement from the liner notes sums it up forme: "Live long. Love as much as you can."
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