Holy Mary, Mother of Bert
"Mainstream Mayhem" CD
Losing
Blueprint Records
Genres: indie pop, comedy rock
Snail Mail: Andrew Wagner 130 Dartmouth St., Apt. 505 Boston, MA 02116
May 18 - 25 2002 |
This is just great.
Holy Mary, Mother of Bert are an offbeat indie band that does away
with the traditional instruments and, instead, uses folk instruments like banjos and
accordions. These are used very effectively, making for a very pleasant
collection of catchy indie pop tunes that fall somewhere in the realm of They
Might Be Giants. But, in all its glory,
the instrumentation is clearly outdone by the lyrics, which are just laugh-out-loud
hilarious (sorry for the cliché, but it's true). Take "Spleen" for
example. It's a wonderful little track that centers around tired old love clichés
("She asked if she could have my heart/I knew I only had one/And I don't think it
comes apart/I probably need it/A man can't live with none"). By the end of the
song, when the singer non-chalantly offers his girlfriend his spleen, you'll be laughing
to no avail. And then there's "Mainstream Opus", a song that pokes fun at
the state of the popular music scene ("I have a band/Our name is Bert/We own a
van/Our egos hurt/Because our songs/Eight minutes long/Are viewed as wrong/By the bread
deadened-throng").
So Holy Mary, Mother of Bert definitely
has a success with this album. They take hilarious, charming lyrics, and combine
them with talented songwriting - all to great effect. And while this album may sound
like a joke, once you hear it, you'll know it's much more than that.
84%
Matt Shimmer |