 Jesse
Krakow
"Oceans in the Sun" CD
Public
Eyesore
Genres: lo-fi, experimental pop, oddball pop
Jan 3 - 9 2005 |
Oceans in the Sun is garnering late consideration for this
year's best of 2004. No other album this year has entertained
and amused me as much as this one - and while these songs may be kooky
and mostly short
(31 tracks in 42 minutes), they're surprisingly listenable
and often quite melodic. The overall impression I get here is
something like Ween
and The Frogs (especially in the lo-fi sense) crossed with Captain
Beefheart and Frank Zappa (in the lyrical and musical
craziness.)
Jesse Krakow (Time Of Orchids, PAK) is
at his zany best on this massive collection of songs.
Particularly good are "Good Warm Friends," "Missed a
Boogie," "Internet Dating Experience," and the
ridiculously catchy "Factory of Coolness." One of this
album's greatest assets it its lyrics, as Krakow is the master
of terrific one-liners. How can I ever hope to forget friendly zangs
such as "high-school is not cool/Don't go to school at least
high-school" and "unless you call me on the phone you better
call me on the phone"? Perhaps Krakow's most overtly
clever moment is the garbled, mock-angsty "Can't Stop
Thinking," which comes off as a riotously funny love song rip-off
- it is fifty years of lyrical angst condensed into a noisy, lo-fi
nugget of tape fuzz and spasmodic guitar. I recommend this to
any true lo-fi connoisseur.
87%
Fun Fact: Aside from his duties with Time
Of Orchids, Jesse Krakow also plays in a Captain
Beefheart cover band with Gary Lucas.
Matt Shimmer [Vitals:
31 tracks, distributed by the
label, released 2004] |
