Music Meltdown

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Staff Reports
Arizona Daily Wildcat
February 12, 1998

Unwound

Challenge for a Civilized Society (Kill Rock Stars)

Challenge for a Civilized Society shows Unwound's mastery of driving emotional, debilitating, intense songs into your head with "Sonata for Loudspeakers" and "Lifetime Achievement Award."

As colleagues of Fugazi, Unwound likes to teach you something while you're listening; the songs coexist on several levels of noise, meaning and melody. "Sonata" is a good example of a song that doesn't need words, while the last track, "What Went Wrong," is a good example of a song that's just too long and wordy; it seems fitting that the chorus goes, "take your sweet time, you've taken so long."

The guitar on "Lifetime Achievement Award" sounds almost like a melancholic cello; the lyrics build on the concept of posthumous fame, leaving the bitter and dramatic tone of the song deeply ingrained within it. "Laugh Track" and "Meet the Plastics" are both heavy on the pop side, and funkier than most Unwound songs at that.

Plus lyrics like "I don't really know if I really want to try finding out just why / I wish life could be just as nice to me as it's meant to be," are truly characteristic of all the things there are to love about the Northwestern dialect of independent rock.

Unwound's sixth full-length album, Challenge for a Civilized Society, is part two of the band's doctoral thesis on modern rock. Repetition, released in 1996, was part one. However, while both albums show off what punk rock learned when it went to college sometime around 1991, Challenge for a Civilized Society is brilliant only at times.

-Annie Holub

The Wannadies

(Indolent)

Swedish pop, baby. In line with other great Swedish things such as ABBA, Volvo and Ikea come The Wannadies. Like most Swedes, the members' names are somewhat hard to pronounce. The Wannadies also used to be gravediggers during the summer months in Svenska, which see 24 hours of sunlight.

The first track on their self-titled release, Might Be Stars, has a poppy and upbeat melody with a somewhat sugary sweet quality to it. Naivetéeacute; is played upon a lot throughout the album; there's a campy kitsch quality to the whole release.

"You and Me," the main single from the album, was heard on the "Romeo and Juliet" soundtrack and gained the poppy bunch a fair bit of international recognition. "How Does it Feel" is the best track on the album, though, with a fairly distinctive indie feel to it. Slow and catch-ridden, the song has the potential to become a big single. "Shorty" is worth a mention, as well, with its subtle yet impressive punk influences.

One could say that this album is a collage of musical styles, ranging from jazz to punk, with a bit of lounge and swing thrown in. The immediate feeling when listening to the release is of mild awe at the fact that so many styles can be combined successfully to create a good record.

The Wannadies are one of those rare bands that remain fairly low-key while keeping their music highbrow and innovative. Ole Gunnar Svenska.

- James Casey

Phish

Slip, Stitch and Pass (Elektra)

"Some good points. Some bad points."

Not only are these words echoed in "Cities," the first song on Slip, Stitch and Pass, but they serve as a good description of all of Phish's newest album. Luckily for the Vermont quartet, and especially its "phans," the good far outweighs the bad.

Recorded live, during a concert in Hamburg, Germany last year, Slip, Stitch and Pass is the band's second live release and eighth overall, offering both the entertainment and improvisation its live performances have come to be known for, as well as studio-quality sound.

The group does a good job of mixing in new songs, such as "Cities" and "Taste," along with some older songs and traditional favorites like "Weigh," "Lawn Boy," and "Weekapaug Groove."

The highlight of the album, however, is a 15-minute version of "Mike's Song," a finger-tappin', hip-shakin' number where the guitars crisply compliment the bass and vocals. During one jam, guitarist Trey throws in a couple of riffs and lyrics from "The End" by The Doors, much to the delight of the crowd.

Those who regularly listen to Phish will enjoy the new album, not only for the band's performance, but also for the somewhat rare combination of songs performed. Even those who have never listened to Phish will enjoy it for the pure, musical talent on display.

The major bad point on the album comes near the end, when the band performs "Hello My Baby," a song that belongs in a Broadway musical, not a Phish show.

Once again, "Some good points. Some bad points."

-Eric Anderson

Sugarsmack

Tank Top City (Sire)

Will North Carolina become the new center of American music? Judging by the new release from Carolina-based Sugarsmack, it looks somewhat impossible. Firstly the cover sucks. Who wants to see primates on a compact disc? Not me. Secondly the band's name is crap. Sugarsmack? Sounds like a breakfast cereal. Tank Top City is a crap album name as well. Maybe the band consists of rednecks who wear tanktops. I hope so, because otherwise there's no excuse. Finally, the music is shit.

The first track, "Reagan," (seven of the tracks are named after former presidents; cool, huh?) is a mixture of poor vocal talent and dodgy heavy metal guitars. The singer sounds like a poor impersonation of Gwen Stefani. In a nutshell, Sugarsmack sounds like a bad Metallica with a feeble frontwoman.

Advil, Tylenol and Morphine wouldn't cure my raging headache after listening to this release. Songs one to 16 are possibly the most appalling songs ever. I sincerely hope the person in charge at Sire has realized his mistakes and is in the process of making sure that Sugarsmack will never work in this, or any town again. Metal is dead, and all you poodle-headed, hair-farming rockers should recognize this. I hate this band and I wish I could gain back the 45 minutes I spent listening to them in order to write this review. I hope the record stores don't read this so I can trade it in for a decent price. In three words: Sugarsmack is awful.

- James Casey