17 March - 2:45am, Kingsford
I've always felt that the phrase je ne sais quoi smacked of intellectual surrender. As if to say "It has a certain... je ne sais quoi" was to give up trying to explain something, but not without buttressing your intellectual cred by speaking in French. A je ne sais quoi (I'm just going to use it until it loses meaning) is something innate, not apparent, inexplicable, but important and crucial beyond anyone's ability to comprehend it.
Horse shit. Anyone who uses je ne sais quoi to describe anything simply lacks the analytical skills to figure out what they feel, and the vocabulary to express why.
So anyway that's how I feel about this record.
It's enjoyable. It's all good fun. But the drum machine beats and the way the synths are used create a tension in the mood that pulls it up short of being a pop-fun indie rock album. But it's not dark and brooding, either. It's bi-polar.
I've got no beef with the actual music. There are a lot more good songs on here than mediocre. The opener 'Jane Child' is an offbeat love dedication to the eponymous 1980s R&B performer, carried by the falsetto harmonies. Jane Child Jane Child Jane Jane Child Child.
Past that, though, I don't know what any of the songs are about. This is due in equal measure the muffled, sometimes undecipherable vocals and the abstract imagery of the lyrics. At one point I heard the line "playing rugby with the Thanksgiving Day parade". One verse down there's an inexplicable reference to Nancy Reagan. And I mean look at the album art. What the hell is that even about.
The album is built on the fact that none of the songs sound like any of the other songs. The instrumentation is similar, though, which is the only thing giving it coherence. The drums have that stadium rock feel to it that feels as if it's some deadpan joke that we're not supposed to be in on. The synths have been run over sandpaper. The bass is bottomless. You'll get the occasional acoustic guitar arpeggios to shake it up, like on 'Glass of Water'. It's all very enjoyable.
But I'll be damned if I know what it's about. I mean. It feels as though there should be something there. It's just so god damned moody. It's like The Faint with the synths turned down, and with fewer songs about conception. With titles like 'To Be A Branch Davidian' and 'American Gothic', you'd expect there to be some exploration of the darker sides of American culture here. As far as I can tell they're just glib references, with no follow up. The titles of many of these songs seem to have no logical association with their lyrics.
There aren't any stand-out tracks on this album. They're all "pretty good", which is more than good enough, because at the end of the day this is a collection of ten pretty good songs. Maybe it's just because the music's grown on me that I want there to be something to it than just catchy beats. I don't know. This album takes some getting used to, sure. But once you give it a few listens, there's really something to enjoy on here. Even if I don't know what it is.
Three and a half stars.
MP3: Modern Skirts - Jane Child
MP3: Modern Skirts - DUI
I've always felt that the phrase je ne sais quoi smacked of intellectual surrender. As if to say "It has a certain... je ne sais quoi" was to give up trying to explain something, but not without buttressing your intellectual cred by speaking in French. A je ne sais quoi (I'm just going to use it until it loses meaning) is something innate, not apparent, inexplicable, but important and crucial beyond anyone's ability to comprehend it.Horse shit. Anyone who uses je ne sais quoi to describe anything simply lacks the analytical skills to figure out what they feel, and the vocabulary to express why.
So anyway that's how I feel about this record.
It's enjoyable. It's all good fun. But the drum machine beats and the way the synths are used create a tension in the mood that pulls it up short of being a pop-fun indie rock album. But it's not dark and brooding, either. It's bi-polar.
I've got no beef with the actual music. There are a lot more good songs on here than mediocre. The opener 'Jane Child' is an offbeat love dedication to the eponymous 1980s R&B performer, carried by the falsetto harmonies. Jane Child Jane Child Jane Jane Child Child.
Past that, though, I don't know what any of the songs are about. This is due in equal measure the muffled, sometimes undecipherable vocals and the abstract imagery of the lyrics. At one point I heard the line "playing rugby with the Thanksgiving Day parade". One verse down there's an inexplicable reference to Nancy Reagan. And I mean look at the album art. What the hell is that even about.
The album is built on the fact that none of the songs sound like any of the other songs. The instrumentation is similar, though, which is the only thing giving it coherence. The drums have that stadium rock feel to it that feels as if it's some deadpan joke that we're not supposed to be in on. The synths have been run over sandpaper. The bass is bottomless. You'll get the occasional acoustic guitar arpeggios to shake it up, like on 'Glass of Water'. It's all very enjoyable.
But I'll be damned if I know what it's about. I mean. It feels as though there should be something there. It's just so god damned moody. It's like The Faint with the synths turned down, and with fewer songs about conception. With titles like 'To Be A Branch Davidian' and 'American Gothic', you'd expect there to be some exploration of the darker sides of American culture here. As far as I can tell they're just glib references, with no follow up. The titles of many of these songs seem to have no logical association with their lyrics.
There aren't any stand-out tracks on this album. They're all "pretty good", which is more than good enough, because at the end of the day this is a collection of ten pretty good songs. Maybe it's just because the music's grown on me that I want there to be something to it than just catchy beats. I don't know. This album takes some getting used to, sure. But once you give it a few listens, there's really something to enjoy on here. Even if I don't know what it is.
Three and a half stars.
MP3: Modern Skirts - Jane Child
MP3: Modern Skirts - DUI
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