 Andrew
Wagner
"Thank You, But Our Princess Is In Another
Castle" CD
Losing
Blueprint
Genres: indie pop, folk rock, comedy rock
Andrew Wagner
12A Day St.
Waltham, MA 02453
June 17 - 23 2002 |
The
comedy rock genre isn't very fertile ground nowadays. Championed
by aging bozos like Weird Al and They Might Be Giants, it seems as
though the style is becoming a bit passé. As such, when I was
confronted by Andrew Wagner's new album, I wasn't expecting
much. However, much like Wagner's main project, Holy Mary,
Mother of Bert, this album was completely fantastic. Not only
were the songs catchy and marvelously written, but the lyrics were
also fantastic, excelling in a sort of "corny but also
clever" way. Not only that, Wagner's few instrumental
pieces succeed on their own, proving that there's more to his music
than just a couple of jokes. On this album, Wagner plays the
traditional dork - interested in nerdy subjects like mathematics and,
as the album's title suggests, video games. He plays the part
perfectly, creating wonderful, yet somewhat geeky, songs that are
living examples of wordplay perfection. "An Allergic
Reaction" is set in a doctor's office, in which a girl is being
tested for allergies. Wagner's character is predictably
outspoken in the story, and the lyrics are amazingly well-done, using
imagery to create a perfect, almost poetic song. By the end of
the story, the girl's mother has left, embarrassed, because she has
forgotten her insurance card, and Wagner is left alone and
dejected.
Other songs, like "Congratulations on your Decision to Become
a Pirate" are more comedic. "Congratulations..."
features Wagner proclaiming his love to a pirate with a series
of humourous one-liners and word trickery ("I would swim five
hundred nautical miles to freeboot one of your patch-eyed,
gold-toothed smiles").
Throughout Thank you..., Wagner shows that he truly
is multi-talented; he is both a great songwriter and an excellent
comedian. If you've enjoyed his material with Holy Mary,
Mother of Bert, you're in for a real treat. Ladies and
gentlemen, this is Wagner at his best.
84%
Matt Shimmer |
