Inner: lovetheonlyway

Inner
lovetheonlyway
Caboose
2002-05-07

Inner is the baby of Jennifer Turner, whom you may or may not know was the guitarist on Natalie Merchant’s Tigerlily album. So far every other review that I’ve come across for this particular album has not failed to state that fact, so why break the chain? After all, everyone needs a reference point now and then to see how the past has led to the present. So having once again stated the fact of the past regarding Jennifer Turner, the next question that may come to mind is does this work reflect any of Merchant’s?

The answer is a resounding “no”. Fact two that should probably also be stated in this review is that after leaving Merchant, she started her own band called Furslide that apparently didn’t score too big, as Turner quit that band after their one album release in 1998 and decided to form a new group, this time called Inner. There was something about her not having enough creative control or something of the sort, and so now with control and freedom in hand, lovetheonlyway has dropped.

So if it in no way really resembles the sound of Natalie Merchant, and Turner needed even more control over her sound that her post-Merchant band was not allowing her to have, then one would think that this album must be one of a kind. Well, I wish that was the case, but really, there’s not much of anything strikingly original going on here. Oh, it’s all right for what it is, but after reading about all the ups and downs that Jennifer Turner has had, you might be inclined to think that she finally “broke free” with this release and really laid down the law.

Well, if that law dictates that one should make an anonymous mess out of a few varying musical styles, then so be it. But I for one am not sold. lovetheonlyway almost has the sort of eclectic feel that Sheryl Crow’s C’mon C’mon does, minus the dynamic (and I’m not the biggest Crow fan, but damned if that album didn’t hit my sweet spot numerous times) flourishes and kick-ass throw down that makes it so engaging. No, here it sounds like Turner got together with her mates Erica Quitzow (keyboards, bass) and Samuel Omeechevaria (drums) down in the basement and constructed a hi-fi/lo-fi “indie” piece of work that wears the clichés of all those qualities on its sleeve in a ragtag fashion.

Thirteen tracks are just too much to work through here when it’s such a chore to listen to in the first place. The weirdness that surrounds a lot of the songs here just feels forced, although I will admit to enjoying how it makes “downtome” work, although even a minute of that “best” song has often left me feeling wanting to listen to something else. Indeed, it’s the tired formula of throwing weird, distorted guitar lines in that don’t really fit, off key vocals, and grumbled lyrics that leave a lot of these tunes sounding like abused animals.

It’s especially bad on “morninglikeme” where Turner mumbles “What if the whole world was my ash tray?” before going into more cracked vocal mumblings on top of an acoustic-cum-bass shuffle that eventually finds Jennifer shouting her lines as a climax as the band never breaks from its methadone-like groove. She gets sort of tribal on “myphilosophy”, which sounds like it was recorded in a well. If this is creative control, then someone should take it back. Seriously. What could make for an otherwise interesting album only sounds forced and gimmicky in the hands of Turner.

“thinkingthewaymymindsounds” sounds like a Nate Ashley leftover (and Nate does Nate better than anyone), and “omygod” drags along at a pace that makes Gregorian chants sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks. Turner’s just way too esoteric on all these songs to make any sort of lasting impression. Apparently, some other critics have found some joy in these sounds, but I can’t even begin to find the silver lining here, if there is one. Frankly, the whole album just made me feel tired after sitting through it for repeated listens.

If you’re the kind of music fan who is into semi-freaky, faux-poetic nonsense, then Inner and lovetheonlyway may be just the thing you’d enjoy. But for all of its mild pretensions, I can’t help but feel that perhaps this one wouldn’t have been better off left in the can and given out to friends and acquaintances only. This kind of thing has been done before and much better at that. If Inner is existing solely to satisfy the odd whims of Jennifer Turner, then it’s probably a great success. However, I wouldn’t expect to see copies of this one flying out of the stores any time soon.