They Put the "Whatchamacallit" Back in the "Floppitydoojit"
Oh, it's always interesting to watch the music critics try to sit down and describe an album that seems to defy everything they've written about before. Actually, this happens more often than one would think. We often get picked on for comparing bands to older bands that the fans of the newer bands say "no, no, no" to. So then we try to isolate those bands into something tangible without doing the old backwards comparison trick. But really, that old standardized way of writing something up is simply used as a guide to point the listener along the routes of the familiar strains of music that he or she may already like and want to pursue further.
So here are The Eyesores and their new album Bent at the Waist. As their own little info sheet points out, ". . . [S]tretching is what reviewers have had to do with this music. Having been called everything from circus music to gypsy cabaret punk, the album seems to capture both the prettiness of awkward moments and the awkwardness of pretty moments." Well there you have it. The dilemma involved in writing about this Providence, Rhode Island group. Actually, it's not so difficult at all. Well, not if we're going to be working with the old bag of tricks, at least.
The Eyesores feature Alec K. Redfearn on vocals and accordion, Laura Gulley on violin, and also the talents of Don Larson on banjo, Margie Wienk on upright bass, and Tony Look on drums. Fans of the Handsome label may be familiar with Larson and Wienk's work on String Builder's last album. At any rate, The Eyesores are an interesting group that puts the emphasis on the accordion and banjo and has virtually no room for the guitar. Ah, so that's it. No guitar equals circus music! Well, not really. If that were the case, then everyone from Kraftwerk to Joe Jackson would be lumped in with Jumbo and Tootles the Clown. Of course, those two acts have had their share of sideshow-like albums. But never mind that.
Undoubtedly the accordion and violin throw a lot of folks for a loop. This is pop music, but what realm does it fall under? Certainly not rock. Certainly not "pop" in the way that most radio-addicted listeners would define the term. But it is "pop" in the same way Joe Jackson's Big World or Paul McCartney's Standing Stone might be considered pop. Or how about one of Randy Newman's movie scores? That's the sort of thing we're hitting at here, yet maybe not as grandiose. But then, it doesn't need to be.
To this writer, The Eyesores sound like early Camper Van Beethoven mixed with a dash of John Flansburgh from They Might Be Giants. Or perhaps They Might Be Giants in total, as that would certainly include John Linnell's accordion playing, no? But the violin and rhythms of the song certainly do seem to make one reminisce for the Campers and such old nuggets as "ZZ Top Goes to Egypt", "Balalaika Gap", "Four Year Plan", or any of those other oddball yet addictive instrumentals they came up with all those years ago. Minus the guitars, of course. And Redfearn certainly seems to have a bit of Flansburgh's voice creeping into his own. In fact, I first thought this might be a Flans side project recorded under a pseudonym, but this was not the case.
So yes, Bent at the Waist is the kind of odd little pop album that rests perfectly within its own quarters yet isn't so terribly hard to define after all. Yet that might not be enough help to some. Let's also say that a few of these songs, such as the title track have a real "Arabian" feel to them which then dissolves into a sort of moonlit street corner busking quality, say circa early 1800s. Perhaps a little later. Of course, that description doesn't even qualify the odd "Shopping Cart" that sounds like a cross between His Name Is Alive and Tiny Lights. What? Yes, perhaps this album is a bit tough to peg. But I still say "Thousand Yard Stare" could be a great They Might Be Giants song that the two Johns never wrote themselves. So let's leave it at the "Arabian music/left field alternative pop" description.
What's that you say? Is the album good despite all the strange descriptions? Yes it is, though I fear it will certainly be the kind of thing that finds its own audience due to its own uncanny nature. It's not everyone who's going to be up for the wild winds brought forth in "Hotel 2 Tango" or the obtuse meanderings of "Ice Is for Adults". Yet there is enough to explore here to make the average listener scratch his head and listen all the way through at least once. Plus you can't fault any band that would title their songs such things as "Dashboard Lazarus" and "Chupacabra" to invite people in. Although admittedly, the titles are often more of a gas than the songs which seem to be happy grooving in their off center positions. Still, it is an album to hear and explore.
That said, there may never actually be a clear view of Bent at the Waist. It is what it is, take it or leave it. The best thing to do would probably be to hear it for yourself and then draw your own conclusion. Then sit down, writer a review and join along with the rest of the critics who may want to trump each other when writing about such an album as this. Of course, you could also just sit down and listen to it and enjoy it in your mind, as well. Whatever the choice, The Eyesores and their strange little album have certainly got enough adjectives and comparisons coming their way to put together one hell of a press kit next time around.
— 6 August 2002
